


Butterfly Effect

by Camelabrakedabra



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, First Kiss, M/M, Matchmaking, Other, Sexual References, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-02-01 07:55:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 75,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12700647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camelabrakedabra/pseuds/Camelabrakedabra
Summary: Seungcheol wouldn't say that he was a 'player' as such, but he certainly didn't want to settle down with a person at twenty years old. Until, of course, a guy who claimed to be his future child insisted that it was time to find his mother and settle down before he completely screwed up the rest of time with his actions. Perhaps that was the push he needed to stop jumping from person to person whenever he was bored.





	1. Chapter 1

The week had started off perfectly well, with a heavy make-out session in his bed.

She was the third girl that month to end up staying for the night. Granted, this one was his new girlfriend, but they both knew that chances were, they wouldn't last all too long in a relationship. Seungcheol had always been the sort of guy to jump from person to person, never fully committing to one individual as much as he sometimes wanted to have that bit of consistency in his life. It had only been fueled further by his university lifestyle; he lived in his university's dorms, as was everyone else, but the building was off-campus so he didn't have to worry about the strict university rules that girls weren't allowed in guys' rooms and vice versa. Instead, he was given the opportunity to give his guests the treatment they deserved, which was, in his opinion, a good dicking. He was sure that his neighbours didn't share his enthusiasm for raunchy sex, but then again, he would be encouraging his girlfriend to be quiet if he genuinely cared what anyone thought about his antics.

Of course, it had progressed rather quickly from making out and he ended up on top of her with no regrets for anything that happened from that point onwards. After all, she was the one to initiate it. Seungcheol never pushed a girl to do that sort of thing with him, especially not so early into a relationship, but this girl had clear intentions as she reached down between his thighs to grab his junk halfway through the kiss. He was quite certain that he couldn't possibly misinterpret that. From that moment, he knew that he would be late for his first class of the day, but that no longer mattered. The class wasn't exactly his priority when he had a pair of honey thighs spread around his waist and almond-shaped nails digging curved ditches into the flesh of his shoulder blades.

He was damn happy with his life and wouldn't change it for anything. He used protection and monitored the responses to his actions as a responsible adult would do, so there was nothing to say that he couldn't make those sorts of decisions for himself. As much as it could be seen as something scandalous and some of his seniors were incredibly disapproving of his activities outside of the classroom, he had nothing to be embarrassed about. It simply made use of his new-found independence away from his parents, and any other guy in his position would be doing the exact same thing. In fact, he would be more shocked if he found a person who didn't want that sort of lifestyle, at least for a short while until they managed to settle down with someone.

Seungcheol couldn't really see himself settling down anytime soon, though. It would take an especially beautiful person to blow him out of the water and set him straight at that point in time. He needed to feel as if he could rebel and test a few things out with people who didn't matter all that much to him. It could be seen as practice for when he finally managed to find someone who he genuinely wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Some flirting here and there, romantic gestures, gradually improving sex skills, and the sorts. It wasn't something that he wanted to leave for his life-long partner, as he believed that a man should be skilled in those aspects of relationships by the time he was ready to settle down and get married. The idea seemed rather old-fashioned but funnily enough, that was exactly how he liked it. His future wife would have to have only the best, and this would all go towards providing her with exactly that.

The week continued well enough following that. After several more rounds with Seungcheol ramming her at full force into the mattress, his day continued as if nothing had happened. He wouldn't be seeing her for a little while anyway, since he had three coursework assignments to complete over the following two weeks. Whilst he wasn't turning up to class all that often and had much better things to do with his time, his assignments were arguably still important and he wasn't prepared to neglect them and risk being kicked off his course as a result. He still wanted a high degree; Seungcheol was incredibly intelligent, and so he could still drag a First or a high 2:1 out of the bag without even turning up to class, so he wasn't prepared to let that go to waste.

It would still be an enjoyable week, though, even if he would be in the library for most of it. He basically lived there for a while, only leaving for food, sleep and to attend the odd class here and there. That warranted a treat once he'd finished whacking out the first drafts of each of the papers over three consecutive days, and he would probably end up finishing the week with beer and fast food. It was something that he was already looking forward to now that he'd thought about it, and so he hurried to proofread what he had for the assignment that was due that week so that he could submit it and get it over and done with. It needed a lot of tweaks done to get it in line with the marking criteria but after an hour or so, he managed to get the assignment to a point where he was proud to submit it.

And as expected, the entire paper was done a good twelve hours before the deadline. It was an achievement, to say the least, since he hadn't even spent too much time working on it in comparison to the other two. It was also a pretty big thing that he didn't end up drowning in the work, as he knew that he'd left it right to the last minute in favour of spending the entire weekend with a girl. He promptly rose from his seat and made his way back out of the library with a sense of pride bubbling in his chest. He knew he'd done a good job, and there was no need to be modest about it when he could finally relax and get back to what he did best; spending time at the bar, looking at what he couldn't have.

Seungcheol felt a strange sense of achievement whenever girls would approach him in an attempt to flirt, only to be shot down when he told them that he was already in a relationship. They seemed to be confused by it all, since he always made a point to flirt with his eyes in an attempt to draw them in, but at the end of the day, he wasn't the sort of guy to be unfaithful to his partner. Looking without touching would be acceptable, in his opinion, although he did have to be very careful not to push it too far. He never did get to that point, though, so he figured that it would be fine as always. It was his goal to be approached by six girls that night, and at that point, he would happily drag himself home so that he could rest up. He made sure to dress up in the clothes he knew would draw them in, then started on his way to the bar.

Then within five minutes, he'd already attracted a girl.

Granted, he did give her bedroom eyes from across the bar and made sure to hold the eye contact for longer than what would be considered normal for an individual who was just trying to be friendly, but then he simply turned back to face his drink in order to show that he wasn't going to be making his way over to her. Eventually she got the hint and trotted over to his side, before asking if perhaps he's like to spend some time getting to know her, but Seungcheol simply smiled at her before telling her that he had a girlfriend for the moment and she probably wouldn't be all too happy if he started hitting it off with a beautiful girl. Although she clearly felt rather down as a result of the way that he'd turned her down like that, he was certain that she'd liked the compliment.

It continued in that sort of manner for a while, with him occasionally making eye contact with girls here and there, and making sure that he drew them in each time. It was all good until about an hour after he first arrived, where a drunk girl stumbled over to him and asked if perhaps he would like to make something of their flirting. He could take her straight to the toilets or maybe even to his place if he lived close enough. Whilst he tried to reject this time, she moved forward to kiss him hard on the mouth and pressed a hand to the back of his head to hold him there as she did so. Seungcheol could feel himself getting flustered, even when she pulled away, and although he politely sent her on her way, it completely put him off for the night. He wasn't all too fond of drunk kisses as it was, nevermind when he was essentially being made to cheat against his will. That bit left him feeling disgusted, so he opted to finish his drink and leave without even bothering to catch the attention of any more women.

Yet, the alcohol hit him when he finally stood up. He didn't quite know what had happened, but suddenly his legs were unsteady and his centre of balance was off. He wasn't really the sort of person who got to that point after just a few beers; usually, he was able to hold his liquor even after five bottles, whereas this time he'd only had three. Seungcheol quickly found that he had to use various buildings to hold himself up, so that he wasn't stumbling all down the street and it all went swimmingly well until he reached a point where he had to cross the road.

Seungcheol was well enough to know that he needed to check both ways before walking. He even checked twice before he went to step out, but just before he managed to move from the curb, he heard a voice in the back of his mind. _"Wait a minute. The man isn't on green."_ As much as he would've usually ignored it, he figured that his conscious inner sober was trying to look out for him. He waited in silence, despite the fact that he probably could've gotten across the road in the time it took to get there, but then finally the light turned to green to show that it was time to go. He went to walk again, although he was soon stopped when the voice spoke again. "No no, it's not safe at this crossing. Is there another one that we can go to? Maybe an underground one?"

Just as he went to turn back and find an underground subway, just as the voice had suggested, he was suddenly surprised to hear the sound of what appeared to be a racecar behind him. Seungcheol snapped back around to face the road, just in time to see a car speed over the red light, and it was quickly followed by three other cars. Their engines were roaring loud enough for him to hear them, but at the same time, none of them had lights on and he certainly wouldn't be able to get out of the road if he'd walked out. They were going so fast that he knew he would've been caught like a rabbit in headlights, and so he was very glad that his inner voice was there to anticipate that sort of thing.  
_It is safe to cross now._

He arrived home just minutes later. He lazily tugged his clothes off, leaving them in a pile next to his bed, then climbed onto the mattress and curled up with the sheets pulled to his chin. As expected, it didn't take all that long for him to finally go to sleep, and good lord, he needed it.

The next day didn't start half as well, though. _"It's halfway through the afternoon now. You should probably wake up."_ Seungcheol peeled opened his eyes, getting a strange sensation that the suggestion to wake up was more of a command. His brain was telling him that he had slept for too long, and he could hardly ignore that. He never slept through to the afternoon and wasn't planning on making a habit of it. With a drawn-out yawn, he pulled himself up to a sitting position and tried to ground himself through his hangover. It felt as if perhaps he'd been slipped some sort of drug in his drink, although obviously, he couldn't be certain about that sort of thing.  
_"Are you feeling better now?_

He went to answer but quickly stopped himself as he realised that it wasn't the usual voice in his head that spoke to him. It sounded like someone completely different, and that was only made more obvious by the way that it was asking him questions. "The alcohol hasn't left me hearing voices, has it?" he asked himself, somewhat hoping that that was the case and there would be no response now that he'd noticed it, but instead he was faced with an awkward laugh ringing through his head.  
"No, but you need to stop doing that because otherwise, you're going to regret it in the future. Mommy hates it when you drink alcohol, you know."

"Mommy?" Seungcheol asked, figuring that he misheard it. His immediate thought was that he was warning himself about his own mother's reaction to him drinking, but it was quickly debunked as soon as the voice continued.  
"Look, there's no way to say this simply, and it would be stupid to try to sugarcoat it when I have fifteen minutes before my next class. Choi Seungcheol, you're my dad. You married my mommy and you adopted eleven kids together. The year is currently 2048, I'm your youngest son, Chan, and at this rate, you're not ever going to meet my mommy because you don't really care about anything other than stupid hook-ups and drinking."

He was confused to say the least. He didn't believe that any form of time travel would become possible in the future, and he was also a particularly strong believer in the idea that things he couldn't see weren't worth considering. He did check whether he could see the kid or not, although when he did so, the kid quickly caught on. It was almost as if he was able to read his thoughts as well as what he was saying to himself in his head. "Dad, I know you probably don't believe what I'm saying, but I need you to at least trust me on this one."  
"And why should I do that?" he asked, figuring that he wouldn't be able to get a good enough answer from the kid to actually make him want to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, for starters, you'll be leaving eleven kids without parents. Secondly, you'll get to meet the love of your life whilst you're in university, which is always something that people wish for. Then lastly, the entire world will crash and burn if you and mommy don't get together. Like, seriously. The future will completely change."  
"How so?" Seungcheol asked, suddenly feeling a surge of interest rushing through his mind. He didn't really see how one little thing, such as two people not falling in love with each other, could completely change the future. In fact, he truly believed that if they were meant to be together, they would find each other again later in life, although he did suppose that it might've been slightly different for himself if he was supposed to have eleven kids when he was fifty-three. That would probably mean getting started with his family rather quickly, even if they were all adopted.

"It's like a butterfly effect, I suppose," Chan mused, "For example, if certain people in our class were never born, certain things in the future wouldn't have ever been invented, but strangely enough they weren't involved in inventing the item."  
"But surely there are some things that you'd like to avoid? Can you not just go back and get rid of them?" Chan audibly sighed out loud and Seungcheol could already tell that he'd asked a stupid question.  
"We have a timeline that has to be followed, okay? So we're starting with our family so that we can make sure we're all born and then we'll move onto other things. We won't be erasing wars or anything, though, because of the whole butterfly effect. In fact, we're probably going to make sure that those things happen because we need to make sure that everything else that follows it happens. One little slip-up and we could rewrite history."

"But if it's already happened, why do you have to go back and fix it?"  
"During the testing process, this one guy accidentally made his great great great great grandparents break up. Whilst I can't tell you exactly what happened because you'd learn new information about the past or future that you wouldn't otherwise find out, just know that it's something really bad." Seungcheol was somewhat confused by how it was being explained, which was sounding alarm bells for him, but at the same time, he was incredibly curious about the idea. It was strange to be hearing about all of it in his head and there was still the fact that the kid had come to him about his mother. Apparently, he'd realised it too and was quick to snap back to that topic.  
"So, will you let me get you and mommy together?"

Seungcheol thought about it for a moment before giving a hum of approval. "Okay, I'm going to choose to believe you about all of this for the sake of doing so. I suppose it won't hurt all that much to follow what you're saying, even if it turns out you're lying to me about everything. So, who is your mommy then?"  
"Oh... you two haven't met just yet." Those words served as a sort of anticlimax. He'd been hoping that it would have been one of the girls who he'd really enjoyed spending time with in the past so that he could have a chance to reconnect and perhaps convince her to be his once again. There was the odd occasion where he'd honestly messed up in relationships and did still find his ex-girlfriends attractive, so he would have been incredibly thrilled if he was to get the chance with one of those girls.

"So when do we meet then?" he asked, sensing that his own internal voice was speaking dryly to his son. Chan apparently caught on to it too, as he let out a little noise of disapproval.  
"Don't be so impatient. You'll meet next Thursday wherever you go. Mommy will always be in the same places as you on that day, so you have maybe around eight or nine opportunities to meet and kick things off. You have to at least make eye contact across the room or brush hands or something because otherwise, you're never going to meet again."

"I find the girl of my dreams next week? And I have to make a move on the spot?" Something about that must've been wrong. He couldn't see Chan's face, but could almost sense his deadpan expression as they sat in complete silence.  
"Who said my mommy is a girl, you dick? I said you're going to meet my _mommy_ next week, not _a girl_. If he finds out that you said that about him, you'd better hope that you have a good way to make up for it because otherwise I'll physically come and find you so that I can punch you in the face." That was a surprise. Seungcheol felt as if he should step up to his new role as Chan's father to scold him for how he was speaking to him, but it felt a bit weird to do so if everything that the kid had said up to that point was true.

The bigger surprise, though, was the fact that he was going to be in a relationship with another man. Seungcheol was open to the idea since his own personal philosophy said that if he found a man who absolutely blew him away, he wouldn't reject him based on his gender. Yet, it just seemed weird that he was actually going to be finding the first guy he'd consider this soon into his life, and they would end up getting married and having children together. The concept was bizarre, as far as he was concerned, but at the same time, he was strangely interested to see what this guy was like. He couldn't really say that he had a type when it came to men just yet, having never had a boyfriend or even a male crush before in his life, but he supposed that he was fond of flower boys, so that was what he was expecting.

Instead of making any further comments on that, he just took a deep breath before continuing with the questions. After all, he didn't want to continue to make bad impressions in front of their kid when obviously his future self didn't see the arrangements as something bad. "How do I know when I find him?"  
"You'll just know, okay? He's radiating beauty. You'll know it's him." As much as it seemed that Chan wanted to give an answer, he refused to give any more information on top of that, and so Seungcheol was left having to curb his disappointment for the moment.  
"And what am I supposed to do with my girlfriend?"  
"I don't know. You have a new girl every other week, so I'm sure you know how to tell her the news. Maybe just tell her that you're about to fall in love with a beautiful man and there's no point in staying with her because you're probably going to be married in a few years."

That was that. Chan didn't even wait for an answer as he informed him that he needed to go to class, before suggesting that Seungcheol went to his own lessons too. He would check in where he could, but obviously the whole point was for Seungcheol to take responsibility for his own relationship and develop it without his kid getting in the way too much. He needed to start thinking for himself, coming up with ideas to woo a person who he hadn't even met so far. It was hardly the case that he could go up to this guy and introduce himself with, "Hey, I'm your future husband and we're going to have eleven children together by the time we're fifty-three. Also, our youngest periodically talks to me through some form of weird futuristic device that I don't really understand so that I know what I have to do to make our romance run smoothly."

That absolutely wasn't going to work whatsoever, and Seungcheol certainly wasn't going to even try that one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today on 'Camel needs to chill it and stop writing chapters for new fics', we have this one.
> 
> I don't know what my schedule is going to be for it just yet, but it's another one of those shower thoughts that doesn't really go away for a long time, so I'll make time for it alongside everything else. Not sure whether it's going to be a relatively short fic or whatever, but I'll give a number for chapters whenever I get around to planning it!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	2. Chapter 2

As much as Chan tried to tell him to do whatever he would usually do, Seungcheol quickly found that he was getting to be on edge about potentially meeting his future partner, and so he was certainly altering his behaviour from the moment he woke up.

He had no idea of how to start his day, now that he was aware of the fact that he would end up seeing the guy wherever he went. Honestly, he would usually just spend his time outside of classes in his room, avoiding other people by playing video games or planning his next night out, but that didn't seem appropriate at the moment. It was especially the case since Chan made sure to remind him that he needed to make eye contact with his future husband, or else he would be left in a situation where they would never get to meet again. It added unnecessary pressure to something that he was already rather anxious about, and he wasn't all too fond of the idea that he had to make a special effort.

Suddenly, the things that he would usually do on autopilot weren't happening for him anymore. He had to consciously make himself breakfast, then spent around twenty minutes picking out something to wear. He almost forgot his house key the first three times he went to leave the house, and then he managed to get halfway down the street before he realised that he'd forgotten his wallet. Of course, he had to make his way straight back to his flat and grab it before he could proceed with his day; after all, he didn't know what sorts of situations would end up coming up, and he might have needed to buy something for his future husband. At that point, he was already willing to do absolutely anything to make a good impression. It wasn't really his style, but it would have to be now that Chan had pointed out the fact that it would affect him on a long-term basis.

He started off by going to the gym, despite Chan's insistence that his mommy would never go there, especially not at half past eight in the morning. Seungcheol pointed out that Chan had said that his future husband would be everywhere he went and he'd already been planning to go to the gym for several days, in hopes of relieving his stress, and so he was going to go anyway. As expected, though, he could hardly concentrate when he was looking around the gym and trying to find the guy, even though he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to tell right away. In the end, he made his way to the showers so that the water could swallow up his feelings. "This is going to sound really strange," Chan informed him when he was dressed and leaving the building, "But I've just checked back a few weeks and it turns out my mommy regularly uses the showers here early in the morning because there's a lot of them and they get cleaned before the ones in his dorms. So he actually was at the gym with you."

So Chan _was_ correct about his future partner being everywhere he went to on that particular day, even if it seemed to be incredibly unrealistic. Seungcheol hadn't really looked at a bunch of naked guys in hopes of finding the man he was going to marry in the future, so he didn't really know who to look out for during the rest of the day, but he guessed that it was a start at least. Now he knew that his pre-determined schedule was going to give him those sorts of turns, he was a lot more confident in his ability to locate his future partner over the course of the day.

It led to him going around the city for the rest of the morning, doing his usual chores and trying to remember the faces of the people around him. Whilst it wasn't guaranteed that they would be on the same part of the subway train or would both be getting household cleaning products at the same time, he knew that somewhere along the way he'd find his future husband, and so he continued about his day in hopes that fate would bring them together. Chances were, he was about the same age as Seungcheol, so he was able to narrow down the guys around him quite well and intentionally make conversation with them until he'd determined whether or not it was worth continuing to interact with them for a prolonged period of time. That only happened once or twice, in the end, but it was good enough for him.

Eventually it hit around three o'clock and Seungcheol was quite frankly drained from the amount of social interaction that he'd had. He needed to finish off the last of his chores and go home for a while to rest up, then perhaps go out in the evening to see if he could track down the guy he was going to marry. By that point, he was certain that he'd made eye contact with every guy of around his age for at least a few seconds, so he guessed that having a bit of time for himself was okay. Although it would've been a better strategy to go to less congested areas in order to narrow down who his future husband was, Seungcheol instead decided that his next stop would be the local supermarket. It was rather big, so he probably wouldn't be able to find the guy as easily as he would have in a coffee shop, for example, but by that point, he really needed to have some space to breathe. Besides, he was sure that Chan would tell him if he was risking having not made eye contact with his mother, so he figured that for now, it was okay to drop his hunt.

He snatched up a basket as soon as he entered the store and started to look around, picking up anything that he felt he needed for the next week. Milk, eggs, bread, rice, fish; it was just the usual groceries that were a staple to the majority of his meals. He rarely strayed from his usual food habits, so he already knew his exact route around the store in order to get what he needed as quickly as possible. Once he'd gathered everything that he thought he needed, Seungcheol went to go towards the checkout area, although he soon found himself hesitating near the end of one of the refrigerated aisles before he managed to start placing his items on the belt.

He didn't quite know what was drawing him over to that aisle, but he somehow knew that he couldn't leave the store without looking at what was on display there. It was a sensation that he'd never felt before, but he wasn't prepared to fight it when he was already facing a strange situation that day, in the way that he was supposed to be hunting out a complete stranger around Seoul and they just so happened to be in the exact same places at the exact same times of day. He allowed the feeling to take over and slowly made his way over to that aisle, where he promptly started to investigate what was on the shelves. Surprisingly, it was just things like fresh pasta, pizza, and a variety of refrigerated meats. He made sure to look at them all carefully, just in case they had any sort of significance, but when it appeared that that wasn't the case, he promptly started to make his way back down the aisle and towards the tills again.

It was a disappointment, to say the least. He'd really hoped that it would give him some sort of sign but from what he could tell, that wasn't exactly the case. It was false hope that was made worse by the fact that a little part of him really did want to be able to meet his future husband, despite his earlier insistence that he wasn't ready for a romantic relationship. He supposed that it was something that was time-sensitive and that just made everything worse for him; whilst he would typically believe that meeting the same beautiful stranger again in the future meant that it was fate that they were meant to be together, obviously if he was only going to be able to meet this stranger on this specific day, it wasn't something that he could really afford to put off.

That was when everything suddenly hit at once, though.

"Jeonghan, have we got enough sausage for tonight?" a voice called out from behind him. Seungcheol couldn't help but turn around as he heard the voice, primarily because the comment sounded rather strange out of context, and he was instantly faced with a boy who had chestnut hair and pretty features. He instantly knew that the guy wasn't his future husband, but he was rather curious about the person he was calling. It took a while for the guy to go into the aisle, but Seungcheol instantly felt his chest get tight as he saw him starting to approach.

He was attractive. Not his usual type, but still very pretty. He had evenly-spaced eyes and defined eyelids, with small eyebrows and long lashes. His nose was rather wide at the tip, although his lips dragged Seungcheol's gaze away from that. They were smaller than his own, but his lower lip, in particular, looked very plump and soft. He was clearly fighting the urge to smirk when he saw his friend stood there with a packet of sausage meat in his hand. "Look at how big this sausage is!" he exclaimed as he thrust it towards Jeonghan. Of course, the boy could barely stop himself from laughing.  
"You love big meat, don't you?"

This time, Seungcheol snorted. He tried to cover it up with a cough, but it was just made funnier by the way that Jeonghan's friend didn't understand the joke. He started going on a rant about how too much pork, for example, was a bit of a waste and how he didn't really like to waste good meat. Jeonghan's eyes flickered up to Seungcheol's face when he noticed him laughing, and for a moment they made eye contact, although as soon as the friend mentioned meat again, Jeonghan moved his hands to cover his face in embarrassment.

"Shua, do you want to make rice cakes whilst we're at it?" The question was met with enthusiasm, which just left Seungcheol and Jeonghan laughing again. 'Shua' still didn't get the innuendos that he was making, apparently, as he glanced between them in confusion for a moment with a look of concern on his face. "Sorry, my friend isn't from Korea. He doesn't get why it's so funny," Jeonghan told Seungcheol before turning back to his friend and suggesting that perhaps they should just buy a pizza instead of making one, since he didn't know whether he could stay composed if he was having to fight the urge to make genital puns whilst they cooked together.

That was when Seungcheol knew that Jeonghan was the one.

He was relieved that his future husband had a sense of humour, and he was happy to know that they'd connected so easily. He waited until he got his groceries home before asking Chan about him, and thankfully Chan was able to talk to him about his mother now that Seungcheol knew exactly who he was. "He's beautiful, isn't he? He ages really well, too," Chan told him before starting on a huge rant about how perfect Jeonghan was as a parent. Seungcheol mostly agreed when his son insisted that Jeonghan was beautiful, although honestly, he was still a bit conscious of the fact that Jeonghan wasn't really his usual type. It didn't mean that he would never fall for him, but he figured that it was going to be a bit different to the love-at-first-sight situation that Chan was obviously expecting from them.

"Will he still continue to go to the places I'm visiting today, even though we've met already?" Seungcheol asked Chan as he started to head back out of his house again. He'd been at home for around an hour before going back out, which had given Jeonghan enough time to get home and put his own groceries away too.  
"I'm not sure," Chan confessed, "I just know that you'll meet again in the future. Why?"  
"I want to see him again." His son immediately started to bubble with excitement in response to that and informed him that he was happy that they'd clicked enough in the first day to leave his father wanting to meet properly.

Seungcheol promptly headed to a coffee shop and got his coffee before taking a seat near the window. He was sat in the perfect position to be able to watch everyone who walked past the shop, plus anyone who entered. It was a strategy that quickly paid off when not even five minutes later, he saw a flustered Jeonghan entering the shop. He'd barely even taken a sip of his coffee by that point and felt strangely powerful when he saw the boy walk in like that. As much as he knew that it was all pre-determined anyway, he still felt as if he had the power to will Jeonghan there.

Jeonghan got his drink and turned to search for the best possible seat and so Seungcheol stared hard at him until they made eye contact. To start with, he didn't register that Seungcheol was there, but after a moment he noticed the smile that was paired with the staring, and his eyes promptly lit up. He stood there for a moment, not knowing whether he was okay to join him, so Seungcheol gave the slightest gesture towards the chair in front of him in hopes that it would encourage him to come over. Of course, Jeonghan promptly took the bait and made his way to the table.

"You look lonely over here on your own. Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, despite having been invited to sit already. It seemed like the politest way to approach sitting with a stranger like that. Seungcheol gave a nod and waited for him to take a seat before speaking.  
"I feel like it's fate when you meet the same stranger twice. Perhaps we can chat for a while?" He paused for a moment until he received a nod of acceptance, then slipped straight into conversation. "You're here on your own," he pointed out, which earned a little smile from Jeonghan.  
"Oh, Joshua has work for a few hours, so I thought that it was the perfect time to go and sit in a public place and enjoy being out of our dorm for a while."

Their conversation began with Seungcheol asking if Jeonghan and Joshua were in a relationship or something. Jeonghan laughed before confessing that he'd been single for a very long time and besides, Joshua was very much straight. That had given the perfect opportunity for Seungcheol to point out that he thought he was straight too, until he met a very attractive stranger who made him realise that perhaps that wasn't quite the case. He watched as Jeonghan's breath caught in his throat and their eyes locked. He wasn't even being subtle with his flirting and his future husband was definitely aware of that right from the start.

It was only made worse by the fact that he wasn't shy about describing the stranger to Jeonghan when asked to do so. He made sure to go into immense detail, knowing full well that the flattery typically made girls melt and so it had a good chance of working well on Jeonghan too. Thankfully, that was the case and he proceeded to flirt back the whole time. It was sweet to see how he suddenly started to show interest as soon as Seungcheol made it obvious that he was trying to attract his attention, and it had only led to more flirting when the conversation moved on to allow Seungcheol to learn more about him.

He only found out a little bit, since it was too early for Jeonghan to go into too many details. He found out that Jeonghan had lived in Seoul for his entire life, that he was attending a performing arts university. Seungcheol guessed that that was why they wouldn't have necessarily met again if they didn't meet on that particular day; whilst his own house was between their universities and that allowed him to travel around the city quite easily, their universities were a lot further apart. It meant that if they weren't going out of their way to see each other, they probably wouldn't ever be in the same place at the same time again, unless they both made a habit out of going to specific places. On top of that, though, he did find out a few extra details, including the fact that his family had a pet cat, his favourite colour changed quite frequently, and he worked as a barista during his first year of university.

"Perhaps you'd like to come over for a while so that I can show you how well I can make coffee still. Maybe even better than the baristas here," Jeonghan suggested as he gently tapped his fingertips against the side of his mug. His eyes flickered down to the final bit of coffee then back to Seungcheol's eyes, with the slightest hint of lust in his gaze. It was clear that he was trying to flirt, and that alone was enough to capture Seungcheol's interest completely. He hadn't expected that a guy he'd met that day would be asking him to go back to his place, but he admired his confidence. It was a relatively quick pick up, too, considering that they'd only chatted properly for around thirty minutes. If the way that he was talking was anything to go by, they probably weren't going to be drinking coffee, and thankfully, Seungcheol was absolutely correct with that assumption.

He was incredibly proud of how quickly he managed to get Jeonghan into bed with him once they reached his university room. From the moment they got to his dorm, they were kissing passionately, and it only progressed quickly from there when Seungcheol hoisted Jeonghan up onto his waist. It led to grinding roughly up against the door until finally Jeonghan mumbled that he wanted to take it straight to the bed. The door was locked and Seungcheol carried him straight over to the bed, as instructed, and suddenly they were left shredding each other's clothes off. It was almost carnal how they did it, but Seungcheol figured that it was sort of like foreshadowing for what was going to follow.

The sex was animalistic, too. Seungcheol hadn't intended on that being the case until Jeonghan left him with a huge lovebite right on the centre of his throat, but then the bar had been raised so much that gentle love-making was going to be less than satisfactory. No, Seungcheol essentially bred Jeonghan now that he'd suggested that that was what he wanted. He proceeded to slam into him hard and fast until he could see Jeonghan's ass rippling hard with every thrust. He grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking it back so that he wouldn't be able to bite down on anything, and then promptly reaped in the rewards that followed. Jeonghan was loud, and it was exactly what Seungcheol wanted from a life partner. It wasn't an awkward loud either, where his screams sounded like forks on a chalkboard or something, but rather, it sounded like he was genuinely loving the pounding that he was receiving.

Jeonghan had a lot of stamina, too. That was something else that Seungcheol liked about him straight away. He managed to go for four rounds straight off the bat, despite how exhausting it must've been to be slammed into like that. Seungcheol could tell that his legs were barely holding him up by the second round and his thighs were quivering so hard that he must've been struggling to keep himself together, but that just made it hotter. That was going to be fun the next time he got Jeonghan in bed; he would be able to absolutely destroy him and leave them both feeling completely satisfied by the time they were done, and he didn't even have to worry about treating Jeonghan too roughly as they went for it.

By the time they were done, they were left in a heaving, tangled mess in the centre of the bed. Jeonghan's back was cold and damp from sweat, and Seungcheol knew that he was probably sweating badly as well. For now, he just laid there in Jeonghan's presence, staring lovingly into his eyes as they pressed close together until finally, he decided that it was probably time for him to take his leave. He wasn't prepared to spend the rest of the day there, even if he had been smacked by the sudden attraction as soon as he and Jeonghan met each other, but then he was painfully aware of the fact that it would just be harder to go if he stayed for much longer.

He made sure to let Jeonghan know that he was nervous about being seen leaving too late and making it obvious that they'd been sleeping together without having a pre-existing relationship, and then promptly hopped up off the bed so that he could get started with redressing. Jeonghan seemed to be upset by it, but he didn't try to stop him. Chances were, his neighbours already heard them having loud sex and weren't interested, but it was only natural for them to want to be as discrete as possible so early into whatever they had. It was something that they silently agreed on, Seungcheol guessed.

"Wait, what's your name?" Jeonghan struggled to sit up as he stared at him, "You just took me to bed and didn't even give me your name."  
"Seungcheol. You should remember it." He said it so casually without even needing to look up from what he was doing that he hoped it would earn him some points but in reality, Jeonghan near enough turned his nose up at the comment.  
"Why, because you'll make me scream that instead next time?" he asked dryly as his eyes narrowed a fraction. Jeonghan didn't seem all too impressed by that shitty pick-up line and stared at him with a hint of disappointment in his eyes over it. It was probably one that he'd heard a number of times before and granted, he had good reason to hate it because it had never worked for anyone in the history of pick-up lines.

"No, because you'll need to tell the waitress at Jungsik which name is on the reservation for dinner on Friday at seven o'clock. Wear something nice." With that, he flashed a playful wink at Jeonghan and watched as he realised exactly what had been said. His eyes widened and suddenly he was an embarrassed, flushed mess on his bed with his knees tucked to his chest and both hands clapped over his mouth. He obviously hadn't expected a response that sounded as if it had been well thought out, and it had ultimately managed to snatch his heart quicker than he'd expected. Seungcheol decided that it was time to leave before he got drawn into staying, and so he quickly did his belt up before making his way out of the bedroom and then down the stairs.

It was only a matter of time before Chan commented again, but Seungcheol knew right from the moment he'd said it that it wasn't going to be taken all that well. "Are you for real?" he asked in disbelief, "Did you seriously just use that line to pick up my mommy? Is... is that the line that makes him fall for you? Seriously?" He let out an exasperated noise and Seungcheol couldn't help but smirk. "I think you should call it quits and not turn up to the date because I'm getting second-hand embarrassment from you now." It was followed by some more grumbles about how his mommy didn't deserve such filth, and Seungcheol couldn't help but feel a sense of pride wash over him as a result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long to post; it's been a busy weekend and I've had to rewrite a lot of it because it didn't flow quite as well as I'd hoped for. They weren't going to meet there, but it seemed like a better idea than the original
> 
> I'm not sure when this will be updated, since the length of each chapter means that it's hard to make it a regular thing, but I'm hoping to post at least one chapter a week, hopefully on Tuesdays each time. If I can manage it, I'll try to post on Fridays too, but that one isn't guaranteed at the moment
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, I'd just like to point out how disappointed I am with your behaviour," Chan greeted Seungcheol on the day of the date. It was the first thing he'd said to him since he'd left Jeonghan's dorm and he knew right away that he'd really annoyed his kid, but then again, there was nothing he could do to change the past now. "You know what you've done? You've ruined absolutely everything, ever."

It sounded like a huge overreaction, frankly. Seungcheol didn't think that it would've ruined "everything, ever" exactly, but he played along with his son's dramatic approach as best as possible. "Could you tell me what I did, then? I should probably get onto fixing that." Admittedly, he knew that his voice was coming across as being dry. He knew that his lack of enthusiasm was going to cause a few issues with the teenager, and he was certain that he was going to push a few buttons. The irritation was even obvious in the silence that followed his remark, and it was clear that Chan was past the point of angry when his voice came out unusually calm.

"Would you like a list, dad? For starters, I now have to present a piece to my entire class about how my dad ruined everything in the future by taking my mommy home and screwing him like some sort of animal before they even had their first proper date. I have to _present_ this to _everyone_. I have to _talk_ about how my supervision period was taken up by watching you and my mommy going at it. Do you understand how embarrassing that's gonna be? I'm supposed to add evidence in the form of screenshots from my laptop. And I can't do that, because I don't want them to see my mommy naked from your point of view."

It sounded more funny than anything else, as far as Seungcheol was concerned. He didn't know why his son wasn't taking it with a pinch of salt and making a joke of it; after all, he was certain that Jeonghan would find it just as amusing that their son was having to show his class pictures of him getting screwed, whilst he tried to keep a straight face amidst their inevitable amusement. It would make the presentation more lighthearted, if nothing else, and if he were a teacher, he would give Chan bonus points for having something unique to talk about. Of course, his son really didn't see it like that and was genuinely mortified about the fact that that would have to be included in his mid-semester review.

"Then there's the issue of all of the butterfly effects you've caused - you know, what I told you would happen if you strayed too much from what I was saying to you. You taking mommy to bed like that has resulted in no less than fourteen chain reactions to occur over the next month. Some of them are pretty small, like a family across the world are going to end up living in poverty for the next few months and the eldest kid will end up going hungry in favour of getting her younger siblings fed. It's something that'll probably fix itself out and it's nothing that we can sort out ourselves, but it's still horrible. Then again, you've also caused an earthquake in Hong Kong, which is due to hit in three days, and you've also had some effect on the development of future technology. We're not really sure what exactly has happened with regards to that, but we have to find a way to sort it out, otherwise all of this will be for nothing and basically, I'll cease to exist."

Okay, that was a bit of an issue. Chan left it at that, deciding not to dwell too much on the other issues that he'd found. Those weren't exactly Seungcheol's biggest concerns, though; he hadn't really expected that something as stupid as taking his future husband to bed earlier than he was supposed to would end up causing natural disasters to strike, and he certainly didn't think that it would do something as big as changing the future of technology. That was especially the case as he'd figured that what they did behind closed doors wouldn't really affect any other person, but now it appeared that he was very much wrong and that was very far from the truth. He did feel bad at that point; he'd only thought about himself and his personal gains at the time and hadn't even considered what Chan had told him about the delicacy of his timeline.

It was something that he was going to have to address when he finally met with Jeonghan again. Perhaps not directly or right at the start, but he had to let him know that he couldn't continue with a sexual relationship. It had to include romantic intimacy only, and they would gradually work their way back up towards that sort of thing as time went on. He hoped that his future husband would understand and accept that, and honestly, he didn't know why he would have any sort of issue with it, considering the way that he'd admitted to not ever really doing that sort of thing with a guy before. He told Seungcheol that it was the first time that he'd gone home with someone like that after having only recently met them, and he was rather embarrassed by the fact that he enjoyed it as much as he did. That sort of suggested that things were going to work out perfectly fine and he didn't need to worry about disappointing him by rejecting the idea of a sexual relationship for a couple of months.

As much as what Chan had said to him was concerning, Seungcheol still decided to put it to the back of his mind as he continued to get ready for the date. He didn't want to have to worry about it when he was supposed to be having a good time with the man he was supposed to be marrying in the future, and he figured that it would be rude to even think about bringing that up with him. It wasn't really something that was appropriate at the dinner table as it was, nevermind on a date. Besides, Jeonghan didn't know anything about the current situation and Chan had politely requested that Seungcheol kept it that way. There was only so much meddling with the timeline that was allowed, and Chan intentionally tapped into Seungcheol's mind as he knew that he was more logical with that sort of thing. Jeonghan, on the other hand, sometimes struggled with making decisions on the spot, and Chan didn't really want to risk getting him involved under those circumstances.

Thankfully, he looked a lot more respectable this time than he had when he had first met Jeonghan. Seungcheol had made sure to take care of his appearance, even going so far as to shape his eyebrows slightly so that they didn't distract Jeonghan's attention. They weren't exactly the biggest eyebrows in the world, but they certainly weren't the smallest either. He gave himself one last check in the mirror before he left the house, giving his suit jacket another quick tug and adjusting the dimple in his tie, then snatched up a tailored coat on his way out of the door before heading straight to the restaurant.

It was one of the higher-class restaurants in the city. Usually, he wouldn't be able to afford it, seeing as his drinking sessions often took a huge chunk out of his monthly budget, but thankfully there was still a bit of money left to the side this time. Seungcheol was suddenly thankful for the kick that Chan had given him to avoid going out too much over the week, since it had allowed him to save well over 100,000W extra to be able to spend on Jeonghan. He didn't even need to be frugal or request that his date split the bill with him, since he could comfortably adapt to whatever price was required. Of course, he still didn't really want to end up spending way too much, but it was the first impression that counted more than anything, so he did still intend on splashing out a bit with his date.

He ended up arriving early so that he would be able to calm himself down before Jeonghan arrived. He did end up having to wait for a little while for his date to arrive, but thankfully he did turn up in a timely manner. Jeonghan had nervously entered the restaurant in a less fancy but equally well-pressed suit, and Seungcheol could see him fiddling with the hem of the jacket as he made his way in. He said something to a member of staff and was then led over to where Seungcheol was sat waiting for him. As soon as they made eye contact, Seungcheol could see the shyness working its way quicker over his date's features, and honestly, it was the sweetest sight that he could have possibly imagined. He was still a bit unsure as to whether he was attracted to Jeonghan in a romantic sort of way, but he certainly did find him to be an attractive young man nonetheless.

"Did you get here okay?" Seungcheol asked him once he was sat down. Jeonghan gave a nod and offered up a smile.  
"I was just a bit concerned about being late. We had a fire drill in our dorm as I was heading out, and then when I went to leave, my friends were asking me about where I was going. I was so scared that I'd be late, that one of my friends had to call his dad to give me a lift so that I didn't end up panicking over it too much." At that point, he checked his watch and gave a little wince, "And I'm still a bit late, so I'm sorry about that."

Seungcheol didn't mind all that much. He made sure to let his date know that, in hopes that it would ease his anxiety a bit, but it still earned an apologetic smile in response. In the end, he just touched Jeonghan's hand under the table and whispered that it was okay before suggesting that they pick out some starters. It was supposed to give him more of a chance to choose what he wanted for the main course, he said, and Jeonghan thanked him for the consideration as he turned his attention towards the menu.

That was where the fun started. Seungcheol made sure to occasionally glance up from his menu once he'd decided on something that he wanted to eat, in hopes that he would playfully catch his date's eye, and when he successfully managed to do so, he broke into a huge grin as he shifted his gaze back to the sheet in his hand. It happened a few times, with Jeonghan getting more and more relaxed with him everytime they made eye contact, until eventually they placed their order and had a few minutes to skip to proper flirting before the waitress returned to their table. "Do you know what you'd like to eat?" Seungcheol asked as he intentionally bumped his foot against Jeonghan's leg, "I bet you're the sort of guy who orders something like kimchi in a fancy restaurant." He punctuated it with a wink when he saw Jeonghan's eyes widen at the comment, and then one of his date's feet gently tapped against his shin.

"Are you calling me basic, Seungcheol? I'll have you know that I do actually have rather fine tastes, actually. Just because I live on trash as a student doesn't mean that I don't have decent taste in food when I can afford it."

That essentially set the tone for the rest of their date. It helped to make the entire night a lot calmer, and everything ended up running smoother than Seungcheol had originally anticipated, which was especially great because he'd been nervous about actually committing to a dinner date. He could see Jeonghan starting to get comfortable with him as time went on, and he was really thrilled to see how he even hit back with the flirting and playful teasing. As much as he knew that he couldn't call it "love" or any variation of the word just yet, he was relieved that they managed to click so well and had a no awkwardness whatsoever during the first date. It made for a fun evening, in particular when they started talking about themselves.

Seungcheol tried to maintain his air of mystery to start with, in hopes that it would mean that he learned a lot more about Jeonghan, rather than the other way around. Of course, he was going to eventually open up about things when he started to get the signs that it was the right time to talk about those sorts of things, but for the moment, he felt like he was owed the pleasure of finding out as much about his date as he wanted. After all, he'd been pursuing him since before he knew that he even existed, whereas Jeonghan just happened to have a heat of the moment romp with a guy who was essentially a stranger before they sat down for coffee, and he probably didn't even think about Seungcheol all that much in the time between their fling and the date. He might've chatted with his friends about him - or perhaps not, if they were curious about his date attire - but he probably wouldn't have sat there thinking about his exact game plan for the night as Seungcheol had done.

He was rather skilled in the art of finding out the information that he wanted to know. It was all things that he'd already decided that he wanted to know the answer to before the date had even started, and whilst some of it touched upon unsafe boundaries, he was still confident in his ability to hear what he wanted to hear. "So what do you study at university?" he asked, for example, making it sound particularly casual in hopes that it would allow him to direct the conversation further when he found out. Jeonghan's eyes flashed with excitement when he heard the question, and he immediately moved to lean more over the table.  
"Guess."

He honestly didn't know where to start. Jeonghan seemed to be the sort to have an artsy career in mind, as far as he was concerned, like a makeup artist or a poet. Naturally, that was the wrong choice and left him laughing as he shook his head. The next guess was perhaps something to do with the entertainment business, like a dancer or singer. Seungcheol figured that it was the perfect opportunity to throw in some flattery by confessing that he imagined Jeonghan to be able to sing incredibly well, which just left him radiating with pride, as much as he tried to hide his face. That wasn't it either, though, and so Seungcheol was forced to think even further outside of the box. "Maybe a teacher or a nanny or something? I could see you being into childcare."

Admittedly, that had primarily been an attempt to find out how he felt about kids. Seungcheol had planned it perfectly and watched as he appeared to capture Jeonghan's attention when he said that. He waited in anticipation, deciding that it was too hard to guess what his response was going to be from his neutral expression. "I think I should just tell you because you're probably not going to get it, but you were sort of right when you said that I might be working with kids. I'm actually doing a medical degree so that I can be a paediatrician in the future." That wasn't really what Seungcheol had expected, but he was pleasantly surprised nonetheless. He gave a warm smile before leaning forward to brush his date's hand again, and watched as Jeonghan allowed his fingertips to rest on his knuckles.

"Do you like kids, then?" he asked, acting as if it was just out of curiosity. Jeonghan gave a little nod and chewed his lip, as he seemingly waited to see whether Seungcheol shared his feelings about that or whether he would start ranting about how much he hated children. It was usually either one or the other in their age group, and Seungcheol figured that it would probably be a bit of a deal breaker if he was heavily against being around children. "I do, too. I'm actually hoping to have a big family in the future. You know, so that I can live that dream of cuddling up with a partner on a weekend as our kids play around us and that sort of thing. It sounds really corny, doesn't it?" Although he let out a laugh in hopes that it would lighten the mood, Jeonghan didn't even crack a smile. For a moment, he was worried that he'd pushed the conversation forward too fast, but then eventually his date spoke up.

"I... I haven't ever found a guy who has wanted a big family before." His voice was barely above a whisper, "I don't want to be that sort of husband who ends up trying to convince his partner that we need to have a huge family, but I don't think I could be with someone who doesn't want at least three children in the future."

That was Seungcheol's cue. He began to explain how he'd always imagined having perhaps ten or eleven kids, all adopted so that he and his partner would be able to give them the best life growing up. He couldn't stand the thought of a child being left without a home and a family as he selfishly created children that looked like him with a romantic partner, and Jeonghan seemed to be absolutely thrilled with that view. It was something that he absolutely agreed with, or so he said, and he loved the fact that Seungcheol shared his views so soon into whatever they had. It was a sign that they were a good match, and it was great to know that they would have no issues as a result of conflict over that sort of thing, should they get to that point in their relationship.

Seungcheol was impressed with himself, to say the least. He managed to keep up that sort of positive vibe for the rest of the date, quickly finding out that he could predict Jeonghan's answers from the information that he already had and could make him fall for him hard and fast by using what he'd found out to his advantage. Jeonghan believed in love at first sight, which Seungcheol just so happened to feel the same about. He felt that family was the most important thing in his life and even if he was to fall out with his parents, he would still find ways to make their lives better if they appeared to be struggling. He wanted to have a relatively small house and didn't want to just waste the money that he would be earning from his future career, but obviously, it would still need to accommodate for his kids. It was all relatively obvious, if Seungcheol was being completely honest, but he could see how his words were getting to Jeonghan very easily.

By the end of the date, he had his future husband wrapped completely around his little finger. Jeonghan was in love with him, and there was absolutely no denying it. Of course, Seungcheol - who didn't actually believe in love at first sight at all- didn't necessarily feel the same way about him in return just yet, but it was a good start at least. It meant that he wasn't going to have to fight to keep his attention whilst he tried to convince himself to fall in love with the man who he was supposed to marry in the future. Likewise, Jeonghan would be unconsciously conditioning him to fall in love by treating him like a genuine romantic interest, which would probably make that process a lot easier for Seungcheol. He wanted to be able to have feelings for him as soon as possible, since he figured that it just made things difficult to have to fake it until he made it happen.

He made a point of asking to walk Jeonghan home once the bill had been paid and they left the restaurant. Jeonghan seemed a bit nervous, admittedly, and tried to insist that he could walk himself home, but when Seungcheol pushed that he was a bit uncomfortable with letting his date go home alone in the dark, Jeonghan confessed that he didn't think that it was appropriate to have sex with him again after meeting him for the second time ever. It seemed to be out of the blue and Seungcheol asked him to elaborate on what he meant, which left Jeonghan staring at him in confusion for a moment. "I thought when you said you'd walk me home, you were hoping that I'd invite you in and we'd do what we did last time," he pointed out, which immediately left Seungcehol laughing. It was something that he hadn't even considered this time, strangely enough, and that was a rather novel experience for him.

"No no, I don't want sex either. I think it might be best if we leave it for a while before we do that again, especially now that it's past the point of a one night stand and we're actually going on dates." He couldn't believe that those words were leaving his mouth, but they seemed to leave Jeonghan feeling relieved, as he quietly slipped his hand into Seungcheol's and asked him if he needed money for a taxi to get home after he'd dropped him back. He wasn't all that fond of him walking back on his own either, but he guessed at least Seungcheol was of a bigger build than himself and he knew self-defence, or so he said when they were chatting at the table. Seungcheol admitted that he wasn't intending on taking a taxi back but promised that he would message Jeonghan when he got home safe.

It was generally a nice walk back. There was no need to rush it, and it allowed them to chat for a while longer. It even gave the opportunity to flirt even more, as far as Seungcheol was concerned; the moment he noticed a little shiver from his date, he removed the coat that he'd worn over the top of his suit and promptly wrapped it around his shoulders. That had left Jeonghan looking completely and utterly stunned as he stared at him in silence, and then the little spark when they made eye contact heavily implied to Seungcheol that his date wanted to be kissed under the light of the streetlamp. He looked so perfect as he stood there that Seungcheol found the temptation starting to take over--

 _"Unfortunately I'm going to have to interrupt,"_ Chan's voice called out, cutting off his thoughts. It was a huge disappointment that he was getting in the way of such an intimate moment, but Seungcheol tried not to let that show on his face. _"You can't kiss him. I mean it, dad. If you kiss him, you're going to cause a civil war."_

Damn it.

It wasn't even like he could ignore that and hope that it fixed itself up. Whilst he desperately wanted to give Jeonghan what he wanted, his moral compass was telling him that he couldnt risk so many lives like that. It ticked him off, frankly, and for a moment he had to gather himself in order to prepare for the disappointment that he was about to serve. He leaned in slowly, but made it clear from the start that he was going in to hug Jeonghan instead, and once his arms were wrapped tight enough around his date to draw him closer to his body, he moved in towards his ear. "I've planned something magical for our first proper kiss, so I'm afraid that you'll have to wait for that."

It was frustrating, but it would have to do for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've posted on my Tumblr when this fic will be updated now - unfortunately, you'll all have to bear with me next week, as I have to be in hospital at 7am on Wednesday morning, so I can't stay up really late to write fanfiction, plus I'll be ever so slightly (read: massively) doped up on medication for the next few weeks. I'm hoping that I can get my sister to proof-read everything before it's posted, so that I don't make stupid mistakes or incoherent chapters, but we'll have to see. I'm hoping that it won't affect this fic's chapters all too much, but I'll make it known in advance if a chapter just won't realistically be posted in time. Sorry about the inconvenience; I really do like to post with consistency!!
> 
> On another note... Cheol dropping his YOLO attitude and settling down in a way that he never expected would happen?? Yes please
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	4. Chapter 4

Seungcheol was proud of the fact that he'd managed to dodge the bullet by avoiding kissing Jeonghan.

Chan made sure to tell him how proud he was about the fact that he'd gone against what he wanted to do in order to protect a bunch of strangers from something that probably wouldn't even be reported in their country. It was something that was rather selfless, seeing as he could have quite easily let the romantic tension take over at the end of the date and finished by kissing Jeonghan, but he knew that his conscience wouldn't take it if he knowingly let a load of people die when it could have easily been avoided by just holding off on the romance for a little while longer. Even if no one else heard about the deaths and the names of all of the victims remained a secret, Seungcheol knew that he could have prevented it, and so the thought was absolutely unbearable. It was a little step, but it meant big things would be affecting the lives of some people in the world.

His big issue, though, was the fact that he would have to come up with something absolutely spectacular for Jeonghan now. He had no idea of what he could possibly do in order to make things amazing for him. He was relatively good at wooing people and getting them into bed with him, but he wasn't all too fantastic when it came to cute mushy things. That was a completely different story, and he was rather bothered by the fact that he struggled with that sort of thing when he was supposed to be actively trying to keep this relationship going. He couldn't really afford to make it disappointing, especially if it was going to be a story that his kids were going to hear in the future. The thought of them hearing about how their first kiss fell through because he'd not planned it properly would be something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He spent a lot of time trying to think of what the best way to go about the kiss was. Of course, he wouldn't be able to go ahead with the plan until Chan told him that it was okay to do so, but it was something that he could at least plan so that he had enough time to practice before it got to it. He knew that he was going to be awkward regardless of whether he tried it out once or one hundred times, but at least it if seemed as if he knew what he was doing, Jeonghan would probably be a lot happier with the fact that he'd asked him to wait before taking that step in their relationship. Perhaps he could do it at the end of the date, when they had already been out together for a few hours. It would be similar to an engagement, in a way, where he picked out a date that he knew would give him both the space to see his future husband happy, and also allowed him to pick the perfect moment to kiss him. Maybe it would have a dip, or maybe he would just take Jeonghan's chin as he leant in slowly.

It led to him trying to do research into what Jeonghan considered to be perfect and romantic by watching soppy love films with him. They ended up cuddled on either of their beds several times a week so that they were able to watch the films together, and each time there was a romance scene, Seungcheol would keep it in mind for future analysis. He would occasionally ask for Jeonghan's opinion on the love scenes and would have subtle ways of finding out whether he wanted to be kissed in that sort of way. For the most part, he was sure that his partner knew nothing about his plan and just thought that it was general interest, which honestly made him feel amazing about his skills in subtlety.

One film, in particular, had him completely and utterly engaged. It was a Western film with Korean subtitles; something that Jeonghan had wanted to watch for a very long time but had never had anyone to watch it with. It was a strange sort of romance film, including some rather intense love scenes, and despite everything that had happened between them when they first met, Jeonghan shied away from the screen whenever the couple started to touch each other too much.

"Is everything okay?" Seungcheol asked as he paused the film. "I thought you wanted to watch it."  
"It's too cringy. I can't bear to watch them feeling each other up like that. Does that sound ridiculous?" Jeonghan's eyes shifted up to his partner's face, and it was clear that he was starting to get embarrassed over the entire situation. Seungcheol couldn't help but smile at him; it was sweet seeing him get so flustered over something so simple as a sex scene, and it gave him some fuel to be able to play with his partner a bit. He'd already found out over a few short minutes that Jeonghan was rather squeamish about sex where the couple involved would be slow and passionate with each other, and he was the sort of person who was a lot more comfortable when it was all a lot more raunchy and dirty with minimal romantic feelings involved. That sort of thing meant that there was barely any embarrassment and he didn't have to concern himself with having to see the person again after the romp, and honestly, Seungcheol could agree that that was ideal.

Yet, it wasn't something that could happen here, so he had to try to show that romance was the way forward. "I bet I can give you something more appealing," he smiled as he slipped a hand down to touch Jeonghan's fingertips. He watched as Jeonghan's pretty brown eyes slowly moved up to his face with curiosity playing across them, then promptly let his mouth twitch towards something more devious. "I'm thinking that a walk late at night would be better. With just the streetlamps to keep the darkness away, and each other to stop the loneliness of the night. There's something romantic about walking together like that, so as soon as we get back to the warmth of my flat, I'll take your hands and hold them out of the way as I kiss you against the wall. We'll move to the bedroom and--"

Seungcheol paused for a moment before moving up to stroke his cheek. It was clear that Jeonghan was halfway between being nervous about how it would progress and anticipating something uncomfortably sexual to come out of his mouth. It was the perfect time to lean in close, now that he had Jeonghan's full attention. "-- And then we'll sit here under the covers, cuddled up as we watch films together. We'll have snacks and big blankets and warm jumpers, and it'll just be us in each other's company. Maybe it'll lead to a few more gentle kisses but I'd much prefer to be holding you from behind and making you feel warm and safe. I'll let my lips touch your neck occasionally to show you that I'm still there with you, but we won't end up taking it any further than that."

The eye contact that they made from that point showed Seungcheol that he'd tapped into Jeonghan's heart. He could see the hints of a blush starting to tickle his cheeks, the leaning into his touches, and the love in his eyes.

It would've been the perfect time to share their first kiss or even start to act out the romance, but Chan was quick to remind Seungcheol that it wasn't allowed before it could get that far. Seungcheol didn't even bother not to argue, instead deciding just pressing his face against the side of Jeonghan's neck when he was close enough to do so. It was an intimate moment, in which Seungcheol was forced to keep himself grounded by focusing on the scent of Jeonghan's hair.

When they finally pulled away from each other, the romantic tension was amazingly high. They could barely manage to watch the rest of the film without getting a bit touchy with each other, and it was clear from Jeonghan's reactions that he was still thinking about the little comments that were made about their romantic alternative. Seungcheol didn't know whether to feel proud of himself for managing to capture Jeonghan's attention like that, or disappointed that he wasn't the best at flirting at any other point in time. 

Eventually they got to the end of the film and after a few more minutes of cuddling, Jeonghan shifted his position to press close to his partner. They stayed there until their breathing grew synchronised, and then finally Jeonghan let out a gentle sigh. "I have to get home before it gets too dark," Jeonghan whispered, "You don't need to see me out or anything; I'm going to use the bathroom before I go anyway, and it would be awkward for you to come with me there." His voice was higher than usual, as if he was nervous about something, but Seungcheol wasn't prepared to ask him about it, just in case it made things even more uncomfortable for him. He wanted him to feel satisfied with how their romance was already starting to progress. They finished up by squeezing each other in a tight hug once more before Jeonghan promptly began to make his way out of the room and down towards the bathroom.

Of course, it wasn't long at all before their son was speaking up again. "I think my mommy is in love with you," Chan pointed out with a sigh, "He's just called Joshua to tell him about 'how cute you were being'. I don't know how you're managing to do this, seeing as I really think you're doing awful at being romantic and loving with him."  
"What? Do you know what he's saying to Joshua now? I need to know what he's saying about me." The silence that followed told him that he was saying something ridiculous again, and so Seungcheol just waited for the scolding that was inevitably going to follow from him.

"Dad, do you not think I would've told you what was happening before if I was able to tell that sort of thing? I can overhear conversations that are in the same building as yourself and scope the area out, but it doesn't mean that I get everything that he's discussing. And since he left the building now, I'm not able to actually tell you what's going on anymore. Does that make sense?" Okay, so perhaps Chan was getting a bit too dramatic and acting as if it was a much dumber question than it actually was, but Seungcheol was glad to have that bit of knowledge now. He wasn't all too happy about the fact that he was left unable to find out what Jeonghan was discussing, but at least he knew that he'd attracted him pretty effectively.

"You really need to slow things down," Chan informed him when he didn't respond to the comments. "I don't think it's wise to make him fall for you too fast. Your first kiss is supposed to be next March and your first time in bed as a romantic couple is supposed to be in a year or so. You're not even supposed to be thinking about moving in together until you're in your final year of university, and then you won't be getting married for quite some time after that." He began to go into detail about the fact that pushing one single thing forward would result in everything else being pushed forwards too, and he wouldn't be able to determine the individual effect that each event would have on the rest of the world until just before Seungcheol had to make the decision to divert Jeonghan's advances, so it really wasn't worth taking the risk on any one thing.

It was unfortunate. Whilst Seungcheol was concerned that he wasn't falling for his future husband anywhere near as quickly as he thought he should have, he was also having to try to slow the process down a bit. The main issue was the fact that he'd never really had a healthy, well-paced relationship so far and he'd slept with the vast majority of his ex-partners before he'd even had the opportunity to date them. Granted, he'd already slept with Jeonghan before they got involved too, but this was something completely different. Jeonghan wasn't someone who he'd met at a club, and he wasn't the usual tiny pretty girl that Seungcheol would usually go for. It was always going to be a lot more difficult to fall for him and he would've usually quit already if he got to that awkward stage where one person had romantic feelings and the other person wasn't feeling it as much, but Chan was keeping him going under the promise that they would end up being together for the rest of their lives.

He wanted to love Jeonghan. He really did. He just didn't know how to go about making things work out between them. Seungcheol's worst fear was the thought that his partner would end up giving up on him, having figured that their relationship was going absolutely nowhere and promptly deciding that it was a huge mistake to actually be going ahead with it. He'd realise that Seungcheol was a huge playboy before they got together and had never really considered staying with anyone he's dated in the past, and he would recognise the clear signs of commitment issues. He would promptly break up with Seungcheol, which meant that he'd have to fight even harder to get him back again. Then their relationship would be broken forever, as much as they could try to pretend that they were absolutely in love with each other.

That was probably Seungcheol's worst fear. He didn't want to end up ruining the lives of the eleven kids that they were supposed to be adopting in the future, but then again, he didn't want to end up ruining his own life, nor did he want to leave lasting damage on Jeonghan's life. It was something that he figured needed to be treated with an element of delicacy, but he knew that it was going to be a struggle when his son was there to dictate whether or not that delicacy was an appropriate step to take. He was stepping on eggshells - whilst it was all well and good that he was getting some guidance with the situation, he knew full well that Jeonghan would've changed between his university years and his parenting years, and he probably wouldn't react to situations in the exact same way that Chan would be expecting him to. That put Seungcheol's entire plan at risk for as long as it took him to figure out exactly what would be an appropriate course of action when he was with Jeonghan.

He needed to be smart about the entire situation and try to balance it all out as well as he could manage. He needed to convince himself to fall in love with Jeonghan but ensure that he had an element of control over their relationship so that he wouldn't be pushing things forward at the speed of his past relationships. He needed to put off telling Jeonghan how he felt, but also show it in a physical manner so that he didn't get frustrated with the relationship. Perhaps he would be able to put their kids to the back of his mind for the moment, unless Chan told him otherwise, so there was no need to worry about affecting them all too much in the future. There was just so much to consider now that he had to worry about all of the potential butterfly effects that one wrong move could cause.

Frankly, he was convinced that had Chan left him to deal with the situation himself without getting involved, it would've eventually worked out well with minimal stress, but it was hard to act as he would've done when so much had changed. It was a sign that he needed to take baby steps, but in a way that seemed like it was something big, as far as Seungcheol was concerned. Perhaps telling other people about their relationship was a decent way forward, for example; it was probably something that he would do in any other relationship within just a few weeks without thinking about it too much, and he was certain that Jeonghan would've at least told a few people that they were seeing each other.

They would have to be a bit more selective about who knew about their relationship, with them both being guys, but it was something that he couldn't see his partner objecting to. It would also help to confirm that it wasn't just something casual, too. There was a bit of a difference between sleeping together and having the odd date, and actually being in a committed relationship where both people knew the boundaries. Of course, it was something that they would have to discuss with each other, but Seungcheol guessed that it would give Jeonghan a bit of comfort to know that they were starting to work towards a more exclusive relationship, especially if Chan was correct in thinking that there were feelings developing between them.

He decided to confirm it first, just to make sure; that was something that he could easily do by text so that it could stay as something relatively casual. It still needed a bit of a build up, seeing as Seungcheol wasn't the best at wording that sort of thing, but eventually he managed to get the message sent straight to his future husband and it could be brushed to one side for a little while until he could bring himself to check the reply.

 _"Hey, could I ask how you feel about us at the moment?"_ Okay, it was running through his mind over and over again, and the more he thought about what he'd written, the worse it sounded. It wasn't something that he could just leave after it'd come out so awkwardly, and so he was left sending several more messages, which he subsequently regretted.  
_"I mean, are we in the pre-relationship stage, are we seeing each other, are we boyfriends etc.?"_  
"Because I'm not exactly looking for something casual, if that's okay."  
"Although if you want something casual for the moment, that's fine too."  
"There's no need to rush it, obviously."

Seungcheol was such a screw-up. He was twitching to message again, even though it was clear that that wasn't the best way forward. Between the first and last messages, there were barely five minutes, and Jeonghan probably hadn't even seen them by that point if he was still on his way home, especially if he was still talking to Joshua.

In the end, he had to take some time away from the phone so that he could calm himself down. He made something to eat, got a drink, then gradually made his way back to his room so that he could check on the progress of the proposal. It took a lot for him to finally build up the confidence to check his phone, but then it was worth it when eventually he allowed the screen to illuminate with the promise of whatever notifications came through whilst he was out of the room.

_"Han: I don't think I want something casual either but I wasn't sure about putting labels on it. I was worried that it might be moving too quickly, but obviously if you'd like to call it something, we can do that."  
"Han: Wait, can I call you about this?"_

Seungcheol's heart was pounding hard in his chest. He'd text so that he didn't have to have that conversation out loud, but now it was something that he would definitely need to have with Jeonghan. He'd screwed it up for himself even more. It was just made worse by the fact that he didn't even have Chan with him to give guidance on how to have that chat with his future husband; their son had finished university for the day and went home shortly after Jeonghan left the house.

So he took a deep breath and got on with it. He called Jeonghan and waited in silence for him to pick up the phone, and after a few rings, his future husband answered the call.

"Seungcheol, you seemed to be a bit on edge when you messaged. Is something wrong? It's not like you." There was no point in sugarcoating it anymore when Jeonghan had already figured out that he was nervous about asking those sorts of questions.  
"Jeonghan, do you want to make our relationship official? Like, where we become proper boyfriends and make it public? Perhaps even working towards letting our parents know about us being together? I don't usually like to take it this fast, but I don't think it's too quick if we've already decided that we don't want it to be something casual."

It sounded absolutely ridiculous when he heard what he'd said out loud. Of course they couldn't tell his parents, and they probably wouldn't be able to make it all that obvious either. They would probably have to refrain from holding hands or being too romantic in public, just in case they were treated poorly as a result of it. It wasn't something that they could really take lightly, as easy as it was to say it out loud. Same-sex relationships still weren't massively acceptable in their society, and both of them knew that.

Yet, Jeonghan wasn't really one to complain. The silence that followed wasn't awkward in the slightest, and instead it seemed as if he was considering it. Of course, Seungcheol couldn't see his expression so he couldn't be absolutely certain, but it was something that he was able to sense. "Seungcheol," he whispered, his voice coming out gentle and warm. It was similar to the tone he'd used when he was planning to leave the house just a short while prior to the call, and it suddenly dawned upon Seungcheol that it had a hint of excitement playing around the word as it left his lips. "Are you asking if I want to be your boyfriend?"

"I am," he replied simply, figuring that it was best just to be explicit with it.  
"And do you think a good place to start is telling our good friends that we're boyfriends?"  
"I think that would be a good idea, yeah."

He could hear the shy, breathy laugh starting to fill his ear as soon as he said it. It was a giddy, thrilled laugh that was suggesting that he liked the idea, and Seungcheol felt himself starting to react similarly to it. "Well, I don't think I can tell my parents about us just yet, since I've only recently come out to them and they're still adjusting to that, so introducing a boyfriend this soon probably isn't a good idea, but I'm excited to tell Shua about us. Maybe I can tell the other boys on my course, too, but it's completely up to you."

It was perfect. Seungcheol decided that it was going to be a perfect way forward, especially hearing how happy Jeonghan sounded. Already, he could feel that he was starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the idea, and he was certain that if he started to address Jeonghan in that manner out loud, it would only be a matter of time before he was falling for him properly.

It was a foolproof plan, and it was going to be the best way of bringing them forward into the well-paced relationship that they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'd like to apologise for taking so long to post this chapter. Unfortunately we got to our hotel room incredibly late on Tuesday and we had to be up early to do the final bit of the journey, and I was away until Friday afternoon so it was a bit difficult to get the chapter out. I've been stuck at 2000 words for days bc I was so tired, but now it's done and the good side is that the next chapter is coming in just two days and I'll definitely have it done in time!!
> 
> Thank you all for reading!! <3


	5. Chapter 5

To start with, telling people about their relationship went pretty smoothly. Jeonghan took to calling Seungcheol his boyfriend like fish to water, and it certainly helped to make things more real when they were making it more open. Seungcheol couldn't really say that he'd fallen for Jeonghan just yet, obviously, but he was taking it a lot better than he had done. Even Chan was starting to recognise the signs that he was warming up to the idea of having a relationship with Jeonghan, which was a great sign that everything was progressing properly, seeing as he wasn't even there to watch them interacting together most of the time.

Seungcheol was actually rather relieved about that, actually. As much as he loved Chan and enjoyed being able to chat with him in a way that was arguably different to the typical exchanges between a father and son, he also enjoyed having that bit of time away, too. He couldn't be around Chan all the time, especially not when he was trying so hard to focus on avoiding changing the world with the knowledge that he'd obtained through their exchanges. Yet, their son had happily backed off. When he was certain that Seungcheol wasn't going to be making any big decisions on a whim, he figured that he could trust them to be together without surveillance, and so he began to balance out his university work and home life better. He was going home each weekend to see Jeonghan and Seungcheol - as his actual parents - and was able to whip out decent essays without being too preoccupied with what they were doing in the past. It was great; although Seungcheol obviously wasn't planning on rushing things, given that it would cause a chain effect of problems, he felt a lot more comfortable talking about certain things without their son there.

As with all good things, though, there was only so long that it could last with everything running so smoothly. It was inevitably going to flop at some point in the future, which Chan had actually warned him about without revealing the exact details of what was going to cause problems for them. Seungcheol certainly wasn't looking forward to that, and he honestly loathed the thought of things starting to go wrong around him when he was trying his hardest to make things right, but he supposed that it was just characteristic of human life for him to be unable to live in complete peace and harmony for too long.

He braced himself as best as he could for the situation, having figured that it would be easier to handle the situation if he at least pretended that he was expecting it, but then eventually it started to wear him down. He didn't know whether it would hit that day or even weeks or months in the future, so he had his guard up constantly and was prepared for every bit of news to be bad news, right up until the point where finally, it all hit at once.

Of all the things he was prepared for, that was the last thing that he'd expected.

As it turned out, a cousin who he hadn't contacted in quite a long time was on the same course as Jeonghan. Seungcheol's boyfriend had ended up bringing up their relationship before class, having been close to everyone on their course, but he obviously hadn't expected for anyone to really know him. Obviously, his name had sparked his cousin's interest - it wasn't exactly the most common name in the world, and it wasn't like every second university student had very similar features to himself, so she'd wanted to know for sure that he wasn't the one who was romantically involved with a boy in her class.

Then she was shown his photo, and she immediately came to realise that her cousin - the playboy type of man who was known amongst his cousins to be the sort of guy to sleep around with countless women and never commit to one person - was supposed to be this guy's boyfriend. She hadn't intended to be malicious, as she wasn't the sort of person to be like that, but she was concerned that perhaps Jeonghan was taking a photo of him and Seungcheol out of context by pretending to be dating him. It was fair enough; that was typically rather uncharacteristic of Seungcheol, so he couldn't really blame her for her reaction to the photo of him and another man, as if they were in a romantic relationship. Her response, though, was to contact her parents and tell them that a boy on her course was claiming to be dating him, which was then passed on to Seungcheol's parents rather quickly.

Just as he'd expected, they hadn't taken it well at all. Seungcheol was woken that morning by an angry phone call from his father, explaining that some boy was pretending to be dating him and insisting that he had a word with the guy about it. That sort of information could ruin his entire social reputation, apparently, and they didn't want him to end up suffering because of some stupid, selfish boy.

As much as Seungcheol would've wanted to keep it a secret for a while longer, he guessed that it would be unfair to paint that picture of Jeonghan in his parents' minds so early on. He couldn't stand the thought of his future husband being faced with backlash when he went to meet his parents for the first time, having been labelled a stalker, a creep, and a liar. It wouldn't be right to try to keep it stealthy, given the situation, and so he was forced to tell them the truth about their relationship right from the start. "Actually, he is my boyfriend. I wasn't going to tell you until I knew whether it was serious or not, but I guess it's out now. Sorry if I've disappointed you with that news."

Strangely, his father wasn't disappointed as such, but was rather confused and surprised. Seungcheol could hardly say that he blamed him, given the circumstances. He didn't really have the opportunity to ease him into the thought of him being attracted to other guys, which would have probably helped the situation out a lot. That way, he would be a lot more open to the idea before it got to the point where he even mentioned Jeonghan. Seungcheol wouldn't have to worry about making it seem as if it'd come too fast or been a drastic change, and that was the most important thing.

Instead, he was more concerned about whether Seungcheol was making the right decision. "Are you sure you want this?" he asked, "So many girls want to date you, but you suddenly choose a boy. Are you sure that that's the right choice?"  
"It's absolutely the right choice," Seungcheol insisted, having already guessed that he would have that sort of response. Admittedly, it was a pretty drastic change in his taste in romantic partners, so he could understand the wariness.  
"But you could have a wife and children in the future. You could be missing out on that if you were to have a long-term relationship with another man."

He wanted more than anything to explain what Chan had told him. He wanted to discuss how they'd managed to adopt children in the future, and how Chan had already informed him that marriage equality would eventually allow him to tie the knot with Jeonghan when they were ready to do so. It wasn't as big of an issue as his father was making it out to be, and it wasn't like they would be missing out on a lot of things that heterosexual couples would have if they were to stay together in a relationship.

It still didn't spark the reactions that Seungcheol was hoping for, though. His mother was next to speak to him about it, and she was even more uncomfortable with the idea of him dating a guy. She tried to mask it by telling him that everyone deserved to date whoever they were in love with, but it was obvious right from the start that her speech would have 'buts'." Seungcheol knew her well enough to expect that and sure enough, it came after she'd made sure to tell him how much she supported him. "You don't really know this guy that much, do you? If he's going to university with your cousin, he's hardly someone you'd bump into on a daily basis and get to know through frequent interaction. Where did you meet him?"

As much as he wanted to lie and seem like he could prove her theory wrong, he knew that eventually they would end up asking Jeonghan about it, so he figured it was best to tell the truth from the start. They'd met in a supermarket and instantly clicked, and then they just happened to go to the same coffee shop later in the day, which resulted in them planning a date together. Of course, he missed out the part where they slept together, even though that would probably go to show that he was planning on making it a more long-term relationship; his mother didn't really need to know that bit, and he was sure that she didn't really want to find out about her son's sex life.

"I don't think you and him are going to last, if I'm honest," she admitted, much to Seungcheol's dismay, "I think you'd have a much better chance at having a long-term relationship with a girl, since men and women are really supposed to be together for making children and marriage. Obviously, you might prove us wrong in the future, but I really think you should think this through a bit more before you end up leaving this relationship feeling heartbroken."

He could tell that most of the concern was about the preservation of heterosexuality and an element of normality in their family, rather than a concern for how his relationship was going to play out. It was so, so clear from the way she said it, but Seungcheol knew that arguing would just make the situation worse. He couldn't say anything to her to disprove it without either rubbing her the wrong way or bringing in information that Chan said he wasn't allowed to share with anyone. It was infuriating, to say the least.

And so, the only option was to introduce Jeonghan to his parents and hope that they would realise that they could work as a couple.

Chan wasn't all too happy when he found out about him going ahead with that sort of thing. He began to grumble about the butterfly effects again when he joined his father that afternoon, although Seungcheol swore that he mentioned no additional negative effects showing on his map. It mustn't have been such a bad idea, if that was the case; he'd been careful to avoid making plans that were too big or mentioning too much information, so presumably, it would be something that would help with his situation instead. Seungcheol was certain that having his parents hate his future husband would cause bigger problems than encouraging them to meet him, after all, which Chan could hardly argue against.

His main issue, though, was in the fact that it implied a long-term relationship. Typically, parents and partners rarely met in Korea unless there was a plan to marry in the future, so Chan had been insistent that they should wait a bit before taking that step together. He didn't want to make it strikingly obvious that they were going to end up having a lifelong relationship just yet, in case it ended up screwing things up for them in the future. He was also concerned that it would end up pushing Jeonghan away, since he wasn't sure whether or not he was actually okay with the thought of taking such big steps so soon.

Seungcheol wasn't really prepared to back out now that he'd proposed it, regardless of what Chan thought about the situation. He waited until he went to his boyfriend's house that evening and then found the perfect time to drop that bomb on him. Of course, he tried to be as gentle as possible when he was suggesting the idea, in hopes that it would make it clear that he could always cancel if Jeonghan was uncomfortable with the idea of meeting his parents so soon into their relationship.

Just as he'd expected, Jeonghan was more than happy to meet with his parents. In fact, he seemed excited more than anything else. That made Seungcheol feel a bit anxious, seeing as a little part of him had been hoping that his boyfriend would be against the idea, just so that they didn't have to meet his parents together, but he supposed that it was for the best, given the situation. After all, the sooner they met, the easier it would be to show his parents that Jeonghan was a good guy and they clicked very well. It would stop any awkward conversations about how he could do better than what any boy could provide him with, and so he figured that it would be worth it in the long run.

So it was planned for a weekend a few weeks later, when they were all free to meet. Seungcheol ended up staying in Jeonghan's dorm room the night before so that they could get ready together the following afternoon prior to their journey over to the Choi household. It'd admittedly made him feel even more nervous, but he supposed that at least he was with his boyfriend so it would be easier to push himself to leave the house when it came time for them to go together. There would be no last-minute cancellations when Jeonghan was so enthusiastic to meet his family like that.

Finally, it got to the day. Seungcheol spent the entire morning feeling anxious. He'd taken his shower incredibly early on in the day, which left his body feeling ready to leave the house straight away. It was probably the worst mistake; it wasn't even like they had the chance to do anything else during the day, seeing as there wasn't enough time to get started on anything in particular, so he was left just sitting on Jeonghan's bed for most of the day. Then his inability to be productive was allowing his feelings to stew, which gradually progressed to the point where his heart was in his throat by the time that they left the dorm room.

He could barely make his legs move when they started on their journey across Seoul. It didn't feel right to be walking towards his parents' house with Jeonghan's hand in his own, and he suddenly felt like everyone was staring at them as they walked. It was horrible. He didn't really know what he could do about it, though, since it was hardly like it was a justified feeling. No amount of feeling so worried would make it any easier for him, nor would it stop it from happening. He would just have to deal with the situation that they were in.

Yet, the anxiety suddenly washed away as soon as they reached his parents' door. Seungcheol had so many preconceptions about how his mother and father would treat Jeonghan. He'd expected that they would be hostile towards him; that they would show him that they preferred the thought of their son being in a relationship with a girl. He thought that one of them would wait in the other room - probably his father - and the other one would greet him personally before flashing a glance at Jeonghan and inviting them inside without so much as an introduction. He was prepared to have to apologise on behalf of them, and he was expecting to have to try to stop Jeonghan from blaming himself for their actions. It was a huge relief, as a result, when that was the exact opposite of what happened.

Without even having met his boyfriend before, Seungcheol's parents were absolute perfection when they met him. His mother hugged both her son and Jeonghan, and his father made sure to offer up a firm handshake. Introductions were made just inside the door, and then they were invited to the main room to sit down. His mother informed them that she'd been preparing dinner and snacks for them all morning and pointed out that she hoped Jeonghan had a good appetite, and Jeonghan charmed them immediately by telling them that he always had room for homemade meals. It led to them discussing the food that was on offer, and it was clear right from the start that Seungcheol's mother loved his boyfriend straight away. There wasn't even a hint of awkwardness or nervousness from either party, and that was an absolute relief for Seungcheol.

What made it even better was the fact that Jeonghan even managed to find some common ground with Seungcheol's father. That was something that he'd been dreading from the moment he received the phone call; he expected that since Jeonghan wasn't all too fond of more rugged activities - such as sports, cars, or engineering - his father wouldn't be able to connect with him properly. Somehow, they still managed to find common ground on gardening, though; Jeonghan confessed that it was like a guilty pleasure for him and he was particularly fond of spending his afternoons outside in pretty environments, and his father suddenly piped up with excitement as he confessed that he enjoyed making his garden look nice, too. Of course, he was more attracted to growing vegetables rather than flowers, but it was still something that they could discuss together, so Seungcheol was happy enough just to leave them to it.

It was an absolute relief when Seungcheol's mother informed him of how much she liked Jeonghan as soon as they were away from her husband and his boyfriend. Seungcheol could tell that her feelings were genuine, too; she seemed to be incredibly enthusiastic as she informed him that Jeonghan was one of the sweetest boys she'd ever met, and she genuinely wanted to continue discussing him after she'd vented her initial feelings towards him.

It led to her confessing that he was one of the most beautiful boys she'd ever seen in his life, plus going into detail about what she liked most of all about his personality. There wasn't even a complaint on the horizon either. Seungcheol was certain that she was being genuine about it, since she wasn't really the sort of person to sugarcoat her feelings towards someone, and she was smiling so much that any concerns he had were instantly put to rest. His mother was even interested to know about their relationship so far; everything from finding out about how long they'd been together to how much they ended up meeting each other in person, through to the details of their first date and what they usually did when they were together. Seungcheol found that he could be a lot more open about that sort of thing with her now that he was dating a guy, and he didn't feel like he had to keep up any standard that she would have expected from him if he was dating a girl.

Although frankly, she was very insistent that her son treat Jeonghan as he would a girlfriend.

Not in a way that made him feel like he was being seen as a girl, but from a respect and romance standpoint. She insisted that he should still get Jeonghan flowers and little presents on occasion, and that they should always make time for dates at least once a month. They couldn't let the rest of their lives get in the way of their relationship, especially not this soon into what they had, and they really needed to consider how they felt about the direction in which things were going. If one person was feeling neglected, they should try to make them feel loved. If one person was having doubts about the relationship, they should go out of their way to put those concerns to rest. If they were struggling, they needed to realise that sometimes things weren't all rainbows and unicorns in relationships, and so it would eventually pass.

She wanted it to work out. Seungcheol was relieved. He didn't know what he would've done if she didn't like him, since she was the main person for Jeonghan to impress. Whilst his father's opinion was also important to him, it was nothing compared to his mother's opinion. Her feelings had the power to make or break relationships in the past, and so he didn't want to make her feel as if his decision to get involved with Jeonghan was a bad one. He wanted her to love Jeonghan as if he was another son, and it seemed that they were heading in that direction at the moment, luckily.

By the time they'd finished dinner and were getting ready to go home, Seungcheol was certain that his boyfriend was already edging close to being a part of the family. His worries were trickling away quickly, and he knew that he would have no issues whatsoever when it came to making their relationship even more open than it already was. If Jeonghan had managed to destroy his parents' doubts this early on in the relationship and change their opinion about the fact that their son was dating another man, he was sure that they weren't going to have problems with the friends who didn't know about them as a couple, or anyone else, for that matter. It was just made better by the fact that his mother ended up exchanging phone numbers with Jeonghan before he left "just in case he needed someone to talk to and so that he could text her when he got home safe", and then she ended up hugging him tightly before he left the house.

It was a success, frankly.

"I really liked your parents," Jeonghan confessed as they walked home together. He was wearing one of Seungcheol's old jackets that they'd leant him, and Seungcheol could see him getting incredibly comfortable in the fabric. He was inhaling deeper than he usually did, as if he was taking in the scent of home that clung to the fur around the collar. "Your mother is absolutely lovely, and your father is a really smart man. We had such a good conversation about technology when you were out of the room. Did you know that he taught himself how to use a computer a few weeks ago using a book guide?"

Seungcheol enjoyed hearing that sort of thing from Jeonghan. He was happy that he'd found out things about his parents that he himself didn't even know yet, and that they'd both included him so readily. He was impressed by the fact that Jeonghan genuinely didn't seem to think that meeting them was an inconvenience, nor did he seem to find them boring. Hopefully that was a sign that his parents would still be a big part of their life when they had the kids together, and they would be able to share the story of how their grandparents loved their mother's sweet nature right from the beginning.

That was Seungcheol's dream. He liked the thought that everything was going to run smoothly, especially when he'd been led to believe that his parents would hate his boyfriend. It was just another sign that they were meant to be together, and that their future was going to work out well in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's still moving pretty fast for them, but at least Cheol is warming up to the thought of them being a proper couple with actual feelings!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	6. Chapter 6

As much as Seungcheol could try to deny it, his relationship with Jeonghan was definitely moving a lot faster than he'd expected. As soon as he'd introduced his boyfriend to his parents, it gave Jeonghan an excuse to contact his own family with that excuse in tow. If Seungcheol wasn't out to his parents but he could go to them and introduce Jeonghan as his partner and have them accept him, why couldn't his own parents accept that they were in a relationship? It seemed ridiculous, he told them, since they should be happy about the fact that he'd found someone he was really attracted to and so he was actually starting to become happy. That should be enough for them to accept Seungcheol; if he made their son happy, that should make them happy in turn.

It'd only been five months since they first met when Seungcheol ended up meeting his boyfriend's parents, as a result. He'd wanted to hold it off as best as he could so that he didn't have to have any awkward conversations with them and so that it didn't seem like their relationship was too serious, but when they reluctantly invited him over for dinner one night, he could hardly reject them. After all, when Jeonghan mentioned him to them, it was the starting point for his excited ramblings about their dates and such. From that point, he couldn't shut up about Seungcheol, and so he didn't really have much of a choice but to go and see them so that he could finally introduce himself in person.

As always, Chan warned against it. He really thought that it was a bad idea, as Jeonghan's parents didn't seem to like the thought of him being in a relationship with another guy still. Chan had seen the messages on Jeonghan's phone when Seungcheol looked over in his boyfriend's direction and he'd analysed what was on the screen. It was usually messages with his mother, telling him that she wanted to talk to him as soon as he'd left Seungcheol's house, and her tone in the texts was particularly cold. He did make sure to let his father know that his grandparents were both incredibly nice in the end, though, so he guessed that giving them more time to adjust would mean that they would take to him a lot easier. Yet, when Jeonghan started to whine that he wanted Seungcheol to meet his family whilst they were okay with the idea of him taking a guy home, he could hardly reject the request. He didn't know whether having an excuse to not meet them could end up leaving a lasting negative impression in their minds, so he had to take Jeonghan up on the offer.

It was a bit of a bother, though, as the thought of going to meet Jeonghan's parents scared him even more than the thought of Jeonghan meeting his parents. He knew that Jeonghan was a generally pleasant person who was usually liked by everyone, but he, on the other hand, wasn't exactly anyone's favourite person. He'd met some ex-girlfriends' parents before in the past and they hadn't really liked him, so he was pretty sure that this was going to be a similar situation. In fact, it would probably end up being even worse if they weren't happy with the fact that their son was dating another guy; it stacked another mark against him and it was something else that he would have to prove wasn't a threat. He could feel himself sweating profusely as he struggled to pick out something suitable to wear for the first meeting, and although Jeonghan tried to tell him that they wouldn't be judging him on his attire, knowing that just made things worse. Would he seem too uptight or vain if he over-dressed for the occasion? Would that put them off? Then again, if he under-dressed or wore something completely inappropriate for the occasion, as much as they could say that they weren't looking at his clothing, they would probably end up remembering it as something that set their meeting up for an awful start.

It ultimately took around forty minutes for Jeonghan to drag him out of the dorm, and he only managed to leave when he figured that there was no way to really make himself look any better before he went. It was sort of like the optimal level that he could possibly achieve at that point in time; any further messing with his appearance would mean that he would end up going downhill again until he looked like a scruffy, awkward mess again. Jeonghan pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead as he told him that he looked perfect and his tone was so genuine that for the moment, Seungcheol could push it to the back of his mind. He hoped that it would stay that way whilst they made their way through to the house, and so by the time they'd arrived and had the opportunity to chat about other things, he was feeling a lot better about the situation.

That was, until Jeonghan knocked and the door opened.

The first thing he noted was how it wasn't just Jeonghan's parents at the door, but his older sister was also stood peering at him. Seungcheol felt his heart rise into his throat and he almost threw up from how nervous he was, but his boyfriend was quick to squeeze his hand before introducing each member of his family in turn, waiting for them to shake his hand or hug him or offer a polite nod of acknowledgement - whatever each person felt was appropriate to do in that situation. Seungcheol offered up the most awkward smile he'd ever given anyone in his entire life, but it seemed to charm them enough for his mother to offer up a sweet smile in return.

He could feel his legs turning to jelly as he made his way into the house, neatly arranging his shoes at the door and hanging up his coat before he was too far into the hallway. Jeonghan motioned for him to follow him as he made his way towards the main room and took a seat. Seungcheol left some distance between himself and his boyfriend so that they weren't making anyone uncomfortable by being thigh-to-thigh; it was something that his mother checked once she was comfortably seated and her lips twitched into a smile once again when she saw that they were leaving sufficient room between them. His sister, on the other hand, moved to sit on the other side of Seungcheol and tucked a leg under her body so that she had enough space to comfortably turn and stare at him, which absolutely shattered all feelings of confidence that he had for the moment.

"So, how long have you been in a relationship?" his sister asked when no one spoke up first, "You've never mentioned a Seungcheol before, Han." Seungcheol could see the nervous look on his boyfriend's face; it was one that was suggesting that he was already regretting bringing him over, since it was suddenly setting in that it was probably a bad idea to invite him without saying too much about their relationship to his family beforehand, but he tried to hide it as best as possible when he gave his answer.  
"We've been together properly for around four months and known each other for five. We met in a grocery store early on in the semester, and then again in a coffee shop later that day. It's one of those situations where you meet an attractive stranger once and it's great, but then you meet them again in the future and it has to be fate."

That was when Seungcheol heard Chan groaning in his head. He hadn't really expected his son to be there, but of course he'd be there to make a comment about that, of all things. _"That's so cheesy, I want to cringe,"_ he said, _"I can't believe my mommy would say that sort of thing. It sounds so ridiculous when he says it out loud and tries to use it as a justification for dating you."_ Seungcheol arguably agreed. It might've been fate, to a degree, but it didn't really need that sort of cheesy comment to describe it. Yet, before he could bring himself to think of an answer for his son about how he agreed, he was faced with a question of his own and promptly snapped back to the conversation.

"So you're in love with our son?" Jeonghan's mother asked hopefully, trying to put the question out there as sweetly as she could manage. She looked hopeful, although Seungcheol couldn't quite tell whether she was hopeful that he was taking it slow or hopeful that he was really into Jeonghan. He figured that it was best to give her the benefit of the doubt and presume that she was trying to be nice, instead of upsetting Jeonghan in front of everyone like that, and so he decided to answer accordingly. "I think it's a bit too soon to say that we're in love exactly, but I do really appreciate your son and have feelings for him. We're taking it slow, but I think we'll end up saying those special words to each other soon."

Okay, it sounded stupid when it came out of his mouth, but both Jeonghan and his mother seemed to like that response. His mother was happy that they weren't trying to rush what they had, especially since she'd been so worried that it would end up becoming a purely sexual relationship, from what Jeonghan had told Seungcheol before they arrived, and Jeonghan seemed absolutely thrilled that his boyfriend seemed to be implying that they were able to say that sort of thing to each other comfortably at some point in the near future. Seungcheol felt his heart starting to beat faster in his chest as he realised that now he had an obligation to start moving things forward and it made him feel a bit uncomfortable to think about that, but at the same time, he was glad that it was something that he could probably draw out for as long as he wanted. Of course, there was still a bit of a limit, but as long as he made it seem as if he was considering taking that step when the time was right to do so, he could keep Jeonghan waiting for it without getting too impatient.

Thankfully, the conversation followed that response rather well. Jeonghan's mother was excited to get to know him some more, his father was generally rather quiet but seemed to approve of their relationship a lot more now that Seungcheol was hitting all of the correct answers straight away, and even his sister seemed to like them as a couple. She eventually found an excuse to invite Jeonghan to the kitchen to help finish up dinner, since they still hadn't finished making the dumplings and it was a vital part of the dish, whilst Jeonghan's mother insisted that Seungcheol stay with them for a little while longer in the main room so that they could get to know him a bit better without Jeonghan there. It was intimidating, to say the least, and clear that they were intentionally trying to split them up so that they would be able to check whether Seungcheol's responses would suit their tastes still if there was no need to try to please Jeonghan with his answers, but he supposed that it was going to happen eventually and there wasn't much that he could do about it. After all, his own parents did the exact same thing.

It was rather strange when he found that the conversation still managed to flow particularly well when Jeonghan was out of the room finally. They started by asking about how his university course was going, what he wanted to do as a career in the future, about his brother and how he got on with his family, whether he'd always known that he was into guys, and then eventually how many girlfriends he'd had. It was rather invasive, but Jeonghan's mother seemed to be rather comforted by the fact that he'd had a number of girlfriends in the past but decided that he was attracted to their son despite everything. It was a huge surprise; he'd expected that that would put them off even more, since bisexuality was generally seen as being greedy or he was thought to be more likely to cheat on Jeonghan with a girl, but they seemed to take it rather well. In fact, they even accepted his comment about how he didn't usually like guys but Jeonghan was the first man to even really make him fall hard, and they didn't see it as a huge red flag. It was a good sign that they'd figured out that their son being gay wasn't a threat, and it was a huge relief for Seungcheol now that he knew that his in-laws wouldn't hate him for just being with their son in the future.

Once all of that was out of the way, though, everything took a bit of a turn again. "Would you like to see some photos of Han as a baby?" his mother said with a sweet smile, "I know it's probably a bit weird, but his best friend Joshua's mom showed him photos of Joshua when he was a baby and Han found it really funny, so I think it would be sweet to show you some of his." That was something that Seungcheol had never really expected, but he really appreciated the gesture. It was a way for them to bond, and then he'd have the added bonus of seeing his boyfriend looking absolutely adorable as a kid. Whilst they wouldn't be able to have any of their own biological children in the future, he would be able to feel like he was getting to see their future children by seeing the photos of Jeonghan as a kid, and so he was rather looking forward to it. He gave a nod to confirm that he'd like that, and so his mother promptly trotted off upstairs so that she could grab the photo albums. It was the perfect moment to check on Jeonghan, Seungcheol figured. He wanted to be able to get a drink of water as well and promptly excused himself from the main room so that he could go through to the kitchen.

When he arrived there, he was suddenly faced with a sight that made his chest tighten. Jeonghan and his sister were absolutely covered in flour and were occasionally throwing more at each other, smearing it on each other's hair and faces, rubbing it into the other person's shirt, and generally just making a huge mess. They were both laughing but tried to stay as quiet as possible as they tried to leave the other person looking worse them themselves, and then every time they agreed to stop, it would end up kicking off again soon after. It was light-hearted fun, although Seungcheol was certain that their mother would kill them when she saw the state that the kitchen was in.

It was strange. Even as he made his way into the kitchen and Jeonghan stopped the fight so that he could get him a glass of water, he found that he was thinking about the fight more and more. He thought about how sweet it was to see Jeonghan playing around with his sister like that, how he had no care in the world for the moment and was more than happy to leave her in a complete state when they were supposed to be cooking, and how they clearly loved each other a lot. He loved the fact that they were so close and how he was getting to see Jeonghan's genuine smile, without the need to try to make it pretty or anything. It was so weird; up until that point, he'd been trying to convince himself to fall in love with Jeonghan properly, but now he was finding that he'd fallen hard for him over the space of a minute. Seeing him being so playful and child-like left Seungcheol's heart thumping hard in his chest and he was desperate to see that side of his boyfriend over and over again now that he'd seen it once. He was even happy to risk annoying the living hell out of his housemates so that he could see Jeonghan having fun like that again, and he didn't even care if he was left cleaning up flour for days afterwards.

In fact, it was only made worse when he made his way back to the main room and Jeonghan's mother sat next to him with the photo album ready. He knew that he'd end up falling in love with Jeonghan even harder if he was left seeing photos of him as a baby, especially after witnessing such a tender moment, but he hadn't really expected it to hit him anywhere near as hard as it ultimately did. He hadn't expected that he'd immediately want to go over to his boyfriend and kiss him hard on the mouth, nor that he would end up with an aching heart as he was faced with all of his boyfriend's childhood memories and sweet photos of him just being himself without a care in the world. There were some of him on his own, some of him and his sister, some of their whole family, extended family, outings, pets, experiences that he'd had, and everything else in between.

One photo in particular captured Seungcheol's heart right from the moment he saw it. It was of Jeonghan crouching next to some flowers, wearing a huge oversized jumper, dungarees and a snapback. He was certain that his boyfriend had a buzzcut in the photo, which was strange since Seungcheol couldn't possibly imagine him having his hair any shorter than earlobe-length, but he looked absolutely adorable. He hadn't changed in the slightest; he still had the same facial features, but was just a bit bigger now that he was an adult.

That would be what their children would look like if they didn't adopt. Little versions of Yoon Jeonghan, with the most adorable squishy cheeks and pretty eyes. He was certain that they would be absolutely perfect and that they would all look exactly like him, and that thought actually made Seungcheol feel great. He felt as if that would be a good family situation to be in with his boyfriend, and for just a moment he considered asking him if he'd consider using a surrogate in the future so that they would at least have one child who looked just like his beautiful future husband. Perhaps they could even make sure that the baby was as closely related to them as possible by asking to use his sister's eggs.

If it wasn't for the fact that Chan would flip at him and it would probably cause havoc in the end, Seungcheol would've kept that thought at the front of his mind. Suddenly everything had changed; whilst he'd not been so sure about the fact that he was falling in love with Jeonghan before, the experience of going to visit his parents confirmed that he wanted a future with him, and not just because he'd essentially been pressured into having a relationship with him by their son. For the first time since they got together properly, he really, genuinely saw a future for them, where they were both able to see mutual benefits in their relationship but also help each other out when there were issues. Hell, he'd even be happy having fights with Jeonghan if that was what it took to have a healthy, successful relationship.

It was just amplified even further when Jeonghan walked in to see his mother showing Seungcheol a photo of him in a fluffy polar bear hoodie, fresh out of the bath. It was another one that made him look precious, Seungcheol told her, and he loved the way that his boyfriend still had those child-like doe eyes still. It made him look incredibly beautiful, and his eyes were his favourite feature on her son. Of course, when he overheard it, Jeonghan covered his face in embarrassment and begged that she put the album away and stop harassing him, and although she did agree to do so, she still slipped Seungcheol a few little photos to take home with him. It was a little gift from her to him, she whispered, and it was something that had to stay between them.

Then they started on their way towards the kitchen so that they could start eating. Jeonghan waited for everyone else to leave the room before apologising to Seungcheol about his mother's behaviour, but he quickly informed him that he actually rather liked bonding with her. She was a nice person and whilst she was actively trying to embarrass her son, she was mostly using the photos to brag about him. She had all of the photos from his various life achievements near the front of the folder, and that showed him that she was incredibly proud of him. Nothing, not him coming out nor him feeling like a failure, would make her reject him, from what Seungcheol could tell, and so there was no need to worry about that sort of thing. He even made sure to add that when he was a parent in the future, he wanted to be half as good as her as a supportive parent, and he would even make sure to show his kids actively that he loved and supported everything they did. That just left Jeonghan a bit pink as he made a playful comment about how he didn't know whether he was going to have kids with Seungcheol in the future but he was tempting him with the comments about good parenting, which ultimately led to a quick squeeze of a hug as they entered the kitchen.

As soon as they were seated and Seungcheol knew that he could get away with it without his boyfriend seeing, he checked his pocket for the photos. He was sneaky when it came to looking at them, but he was relieved to find that Jeonghan was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn't even notice him looking under the table like that.

The photos were of him in his school uniform through the years, right from his pre-school photos through to his final year of high-school. Each one had a date scrawled on the back, and they came wrapped in a slip of paper that confessed that she'd been keeping one photo aside since he was little so that she could give it to his future boyfriend. She'd had a dream that he would end up being attracted to boys when he was little and it was just confirmed as he grew older, and whilst she'd tried to deny it and hoped that he would suddenly fall for a girl, she was glad to find that he'd fallen for someone who seemed so lovely. That note had the day's date scrawled at the bottom, just to show that it was personal and she'd written it specifically for Seungcheol whilst she was trying to find the albums. He shot a glance up at her and watched as she broke into a smile, and in that moment he knew that everything in their future was going to be perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little late with this one and I don't really have an excuse bc I've just been sat looking at my blank word document all day, but hopefully it's a pretty sweet chapter!! Cheol is finally falling for him and that's a good thing!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	7. Chapter 7

Seungcheol couldn't even pretend that falling in love with Jeonghan didn't leave him feeling absolutely terrified. He was fine with it until he got home that evening and looked at the photo again, and at that point he decided to make an active decision not to speak to Jeonghan for a while. He couldn't stand the thought of being around him when he wanted him so desperately and needed to feel as if he was loved by him in return. He didn't want to be the sort of person to try to force his partner to show him affection, and he certainly didn't want to make it seem as if he couldn't be without Jeonghan. The younger boy didn't need to know that Seungcheol was absolutely in love with him, and so he was going to bury it as much as he possibly could.

Pretending that his boyfriend didn't exist was what Seungcheol did best. He'd managed to do it over and over again with his past girlfriends, so he had absolutely no problem with doing it with Jeonghan as well. He simply switched his phone to silent, turned his message notifications off for Jeonghan specifically, and went about his day. It was a bit of a pain to finally see his messages again later on in the day, only to see that he'd received a few texts from Jeonghan plus a message or two on social media, but he stood his ground and swiped them away without answering.

It was easy enough to start with. He didn't really need to try too hard with it; after all, he would only get a few messages per day so it wasn't a huge deal if he was going to ignore him. Yet, it naturally got worse the longer he left it. To start with, Jeonghan would only message every three or four days, as not to irritate Seungcheol with his messages, but then the messages began to get more desperate and needy. "You haven't replied to be in quite a while. Is something wrong?" he asked, at which point Seungcheol figured that it would be best to reply once in order to show that he wasn't dead or something.  
"I'm fine :)"  
Obviously, Jeonghan knew that things weren't fine, but at least then he wasn't going to turn up to his house to investigate whether he was okay or not. The last thing Seungcheol needed was to find out that his boyfriend was trying to get into his house so that he could check up on him. At that point, he wouldn't be able to ignore him any longer and he knew that the guilty of what he'd done would cripple him.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to back down. As much as he'd spent time trying to convince himself that he should fall in love with Jeonghan and start a proper, loving relationship, he hated it now that he was starting to feel things for him. It made him feel small - inferior - and that was a feeling that left prickles of fear running up his spine every time he thought about it. He'd never really had those sort of feelings towards someone before, never met someone's parents or actively advertised that he was in a relationship with them, so it was completely new territory. Seungcheol wasn't exactly the sort of person to want to venture into that sort of territory with someone, especially not for the first time. Of course, Jeonghan was probably the right person to go there with, seeing as they were supposed to be spending the rest of their lives with each other, but it still felt surreal that he was going to be marrying Jeonghan in the future. He didn't want to think of their relationship like that just yet.

Chan was pissed when he found out. He even took time away from their family one evening so that he could discuss it with Seungcheol, and he was angry enough about having to skip out on family bonding without having to deal with Seungcheol's evasive, reluctant attitude on top of that. "I don't like how you're treating my mommy and I swear, I'd rather quit right now and not exist than see you hurt him like that."  
"I thought you said you couldn't see what he's doing when your focus is on me," Seungcheol pointed out nonchalantly as he continued reading his book, and Chan immediately let out a low hiss of annoyance in response.

"Choi Seungcheol, I can see the messages he's been sending you and I know how upset he is. I know that he's hurting because he's really attracted to you and he's told his family and friends about how he's into you, and then as soon as you meet his parents, you start acting like a _dick_ to him. It's not fair and I'm not standing for it." At that point, he simply snapped the book closed and tossed it across to the other side of his bed.  
"Chan, don't say that sort of thing."  
"Say what, 'dick'?"  
 _"Stop it."_  
"Well, you're being one right now, and you're not exactly my dad just yet. We're basically the same age."

He struggled to come up with something to say in response to that, and so simply figured that it was best to ignore the remark in favour of finding something else to do. It took a while to decide what he wanted to do, but he eventually snatched up his phone, swiped the messages away, then began to play video games instead. Naturally, that only annoyed his son further and he heard the exasperated sigh from him as soon as the app's icon was tapped. "Are you _kidding_ me? My mommy is upset because of what you're doing to him and you're just ignoring him still? He just sent you a message and you've swiped it away. How can you bear to do that to him when he loves you?" To start with, Seungcheol just ignored him in favour of just playing his game, but then Chan's speaking quickly started to get annoying as it began to interrupt the game more and more. There was only so long that Seungcheol could focus on playing when his son was having a monologic rant about how much he hated how he was treating Jeonghan before he finally gave in and let out a long groan of irritation and slammed the device hard onto his pillow.

"Look, you're really irritating me now. I didn't allow you to guide me on this for you to try to change who I am as a person. I don't do love. I don't spend my life being lovey-dovey and affectionate towards people. I'm not the sort of guy who will take him out on dates every week and take flowers to his apartment every Friday. I'm scared of being attracted to him, and I don't want to be the guy to ruin everything because I don't want to be affectionate towards him like that. I'd rather take it at my own pace and then if anything bad happens as a result of it, so be it. These _fucking_ butterfly effects shouldn't be taking over my life. If I want to kiss him today, I should be allowed to. If I want to put off falling for him for another eight months, I should be allowed to do that. If he breaks up with me and we end up getting back together in a few months, so be it. I don't want to think of how that's going to cause a hurricane in Brazil, or how some person who is important to medical development in France dies because I told Jeonghan that I love him. I don't care anymore. I don't want it to rule my life."

There was complete and utter silence for a moment. Seungcheol knew that Chan was still there, but it was clear that he didn't even know how to reply to that. In the short whilst that they'd been speaking with each other, Seungcheol had never really gotten angry over everything before - at least not to the point where he was frantic and shouting - so it must've come as a shock for his son as well. In fact, the first thing he did when he found the words to speak again was point out that in his entire life, he'd never seen his dad shouting either. He was generally a rather patient person who would deal with stresses in a calm, rational manner, so it was a huge shock to see him so upset over this sort of thing. All Chan could really do was apologise and politely ask that he speak to his mommy at least once, just to tell him about his fears for the implications for their relationship. He didn't want him to be left guessing or think that Seungcheol wasn't really attracted to him, and that was what Chan was scared about most of all.

"Y-you have to at least speak to him," Chan choked out, "He needs to know the truth. Forget about the butterfly effects for now and just spend your time talking with my mommy for a bit. Tell him if you want to slow it down or anything - I'm sure he'll understand." As childish as it was, Seungcheol simply ignored his son. For now, he didn't really care about the fact that he was going to have to do as his son said - after all, it was the most logical, mature response to everything that was happening around him - but he wanted his moment of immaturity in which he simply pretended that Chan didn't exist. Of course, his son continued to try to chat with him for a few minutes as he realised that perhaps he pushed his dad a little bit too far until he finally got the hint and left. That was when Seungcheol decided that it was okay to talk to his boyfriend again, and so he finally decided to send him a short text.

"I'm okay, don't worry. It's just been a rough few weeks." That was that for around thirty seconds when Jeonghan decided that it was time to message him back. Seungcheol hadn't really expected the paragraph that was shot in his direction, especially considering how little time Jeonghan had had to answer since he sent the message, but he supposed that his boyfriend had gone so long without him that he'd ended up wanting to get the reply sent as soon as physically possible.  
"Okay, I completely understand and appreciate that you're going through a rough patch, but I can't help but feel like it's my fault. It started as soon as you got home from my parents' house and you're not even telling me what's wrong," Jeonghan started, before promptly going into a rant about how he was incredibly worried about him the entire time and didn't have any updates on whether it was something that he could help to sort out or whether it was something that he needed to back away from. He didn't know whether his parents had said something to upset him, whether he'd personally ruined everything between them, or whether it was something completely unrelated to the rest of the events during the day. It just scared him and he didn't need to feel so worried like that for so long.

"I'm coming over," he added a moment later, "I need to talk to you in person." Seungcheol suddenly felt his heart rate rising as he sent a text in response to inform him that it was a long way to travel for a quick chat, but Jeonghan insisted that he was close enough to be able to have that chat with his boyfriend right away. He didn't think that waiting for such an important conversation was appropriate, especially not when he wanted to say it in person, and so he would be over in ten minutes. It gave very little time for Seungcheol to clean his room, making sure to shove empty packets in the bin and sort out his bedsheets so that the room looked at least a little bit presentable. His pyjamas were quickly replaced with a hoodie and jeans, and then he made his way to the front door as soon as he heard the thumping of his boyfriend's fist on the wood.

Seungcheol's legs were like jelly as he made his way over to the door. He fully expected the response that he got when he opened the door and was faced with the unimpressed face of Jeonghan, but instead of trying to force his way into the house or start an argument right there, he just calmly asked if he could enter the house. Of course, Seungcheol gave a little nod and invited him straight into his room, but a little part of him wished that he'd taken him through to the main room instead. Perhaps there would be someone there and that person would be able to calm Jeonghan down, although honestly, he would probably see his boyfriend even more seething over the fact that he'd tried to avoid talking with him in private.

When they were in his room, the eye contact that they made left Seungcheol's spine tingling. He didn't know what to say - whether he should start to apologise or tell him what was wrong or even apologise for how he made Jeonghan feel. He knew that trying to distance himself for so long was an incredibly bad idea, but he couldn't even bring himself to bring that up at the moment. Eventually, Jeonghan's tongue flashed out to dampen his lips and then he took a deep breath in preparation to start speaking, although Seungcheol couldn't really say that he was looking forward to what was coming out of his mouth. "You're going to tell me exactly what's wrong right now, Seungcheol. I don't care whether it's something little or big, whether it's something that you wouldn't usually talk about with anyone else or something that everyone knows aside from me. I'm supposed to be your boyfriend and I'm supposed to be here to look after you, and I've decided that if I don't want to be pushed away."

It was clear from his tone that there was an element of threat behind his words. Jeonghan wasn't the sort of person to say it out loud, but he knew his worth and he wasn't prepared to be treated badly by anyone. If Seungcheol wasn't going to comply and tell him what he wanted, they would probably end up breaking up; right now, he wasn't taking any rubbish and he wasn't messing around. Seungcheol braced himself before edging forward, and he desperately hoped more than anything that it wouldn't result in his head being bitten off. "I feel like we're moving too fast," he said, daring a glance into his boyfriend's pupils. Thankfully, Jeonghan didn't snap at him, but he certainly didn't look impressed either.  
"And why didn't you tell me this before now?"

"I suppose... I suppose I was worried that you'd be angry at me." Wrong choice. He could see the hurt on Jeonghan's face.  
"And ignoring me was the right way to avoid making me angry, was it?"  
"I realise now that it was a bad--"  
"You realise _now_ that it's a bad idea? 'Now' meaning after I've come over to your house to talk to you?" Seungcheol guessed that Jeonghan didn't want to start an argument, even if it was progressing in that sort of way. He was obviously torn between showing support and showing him that he wasn't prepared to be treated like trash. Seungcheol couldn't really say that he blamed him; after all, he'd probably react similarly if he was into someone and they treated him in that sort of way. He hated that he'd done that to Jeonghan but he hadn't really thought about the implications of it at the time.

"I'm sorry for treating you like that. Is there something that I can do for you to make it better?"  
"You could tell me how we're moving too fast, for starters." He froze when he heard Jeonghan's request. He didn't really know how to describe it. It wasn't moving too fast for Jeonghan and he knew that it shouldn't be moving too fast for him either, but he just felt as if he shouldn't be falling in love this early on in their relationship. Now that he was thinking about it, the idea didn't even make all that much sense. It wasn't like they'd been together for a couple of days or something stupid like that; they'd been together for a good few months and hadn't even shared a proper kiss yet. It was something that a lot of couples shared relatively early on, but he was taking it way too slow. It was a surprise that Jeonghan hadn't called him out on it yet, seeing as he'd been given the promise of an incredibly romantic first kiss without any hints of when that was going to happen.

"I think I'm developing feelings for you," Seungcheol told him, ignoring the way in which his voice caught in his throat as he spoke. Suddenly, he'd offered up a complete game-changer; Jeonghan's expression softened completely before he asked him to repeat it again. "I'm scared because I've never been with someone for this long before, and I've never told someone that I'm romantically attracted to them. I don't think today is going to be the day for that, but I realised that I was starting to feel something for you when we were at your parents' house and my first instinct was to run before I ended up hurting one of us."

"I don't even know what to say right now," Jeonghan whispered as he pressed his face into his hands. It seemed to be a shameful response more than an annoyed one, but it was hard to tell whether that was a good thing or not. "I came here ready to show you every bit of hurt you've made me feel, but you've left me considering saying those three big words, and I hate that more than I can begin to tell you. I hate that I'm not angry at you anymore, and I hate how my feelings for you are even stronger now, despite the fact that you've just straight up disappointed me over and over again for weeks on end." No, he was definitely embarrassed. Seungcheol had known him for long enough to know that he was drowning in his own embarrassment, as a result of letting his feelings destroy his hurt so easily. He simply moved the hands away from his boyfriend's face as he moved to kneel in front of him and then gazed into his eyes with enough intensity to capture Jeonghan like a rabbit in headlights.

For a moment, they just sat there. Seungcheol reached up to stroke the soft skin of Jeonghan's cheek and they exchanged a smile before continuing. There was still a hint of embarrassment in the younger boy's face as they made eye contact, but he didn't shy away in the slightest, in favour of leaning into the touch. "I don't want to hear those words just yet," Seungcheol told him, "But I do want to break my promise and give you the most unromantic first kiss you could possibly imagine."

Jeonghan's face dropped as he stared at him in silence. All traces of their conversation up until that point - all of the hurt, anger, frustration, pain - was all completely absent on his face now. Instead, it was replaced with a strange sense of confusion as he reached forward to touch Seungcheol's cheek in return. The glance that they exchanged was sweeter than he could have possibly imagined, and it instantly showed that Jeonghan cared for him. "I don't think I would've let you kiss me during an argument under any other circumstances, but I'm hoping that maybe it'll show you that having feelings for me isn't as bad as you're expecting."

Seungcheol was quite frankly blessed when it came to Jeonghan. His boyfriend could have quite easily told him what he thought about his actions and ended their relationship right away, but he instead went out of his way to understand. There was no saying for sure whether he was actually starting to forgive Seungcheol or not, but for the moment it didn't really matter. He didn't need to be forgiven; he needed to feel comforted and know for sure that their relationship was right. He was absolutely certain that any other man would have thrown it back in his face and called him an idiot for being so fearful of love, but he supposed that it only went to show that they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives. He slowly shuffled closer to the edge of the bed and then pressed his hands onto the mattress in front of Jeonghan. They went back to staring at each other for just a moment as they tried to figure out what to do with themselves, and then finally Seungcheol craned up to press their lips together.

The first thing he noticed when their lips touched was the fact that Jeonghan's lips were absolutely perfect. They were smoother than he could have imagined and easily rivalled the lips of every girl he'd ever kissed in his life. He knew that his own weren't half as nice to kiss, but he could feel Jeonghan smiling into the kiss nonetheless. His nose was filled with the scents of Seoul; the scent of convenience store noodles clinging to Jeonghan's hands as he lifted them to cup his face, a very particular brand of strawberry lace-scented shampoo that was the home brand of a certain drug store, and the cucumbery smell of Jeonghan's facial moisturiser. He inhaled deeply as he began to lean further into the kiss, enjoying how it just felt natural to part his lips slightly. It was a bit strange to do so, since he'd never dreamed of putting so much of his heart into a kiss with a boy before, but his boyfriend was completely different to the other boys he'd met in his life.

There weren't fireworks as he'd expected from his first kiss with the man he was supposed to be spending the rest of his life with, but he was instead left with the most wonderful warmth in the pit of his stomach. It was a warmth that wasn't familiar to him, but it was welcome regardless. Kissing Jeonghan was an experience that he immediately wanted to relive over and over again. All of his expectations were completely blown out of the water; he'd expected it to feel _too_ much like kissing another guy, with the feeling of stubble against his chin or cheeks, masculine scents mixing between them, or a desperate need for them both to dominate the kiss. This was completely different, though. It was gentle and tender and quite possibly the most loving kiss that he'd ever had the pleasure of sharing with another person. It just made the experience that little bit sweeter for him to be able to press his lips against the lips of someone who meant so much to him and not have the disappointment of his expectations coming to surface.

When they finally drew away, he couldn't even help himself any longer. "Do you have to do anything tomorrow?" he asked, not even caring whether he sounded desperate when he said it.  
"I don't have anything that I need to do urgently. I do need to get some groceries at some point, though." Suddenly, Seungcheol couldn't hold it back anymore. He hated how needy he was probably going to sound, but he needed to feel that little bit of closeness. He couldn't have the thoughts of Chan and the butterfly effects stopping him from living his life for the moment.  
"Please stay over for the night. I want you to cuddle with me tonight." Jeonghan's entire face immediately lit up, although he quickly tried to mask it behind a hand until he'd calmed himself down enough to answer.  
"I'll stay if you apologise properly by getting me tteokguk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I'm sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out! I got really distracted last night and sorting out my adult responsibilities for tha day knocked everything out of me. Hopefully it's worth the wait though!!
> 
> Thank you for your patience!! <3


	8. Chapter 8

Seungcheol was frankly less than thrilled when he was greeted the morning after the argument to frustration from his son. It certainly wasn't helped by the fact that his son had turned up at the exact wrong time, in which Jeonghan was asleep in Seungcheol's bed in just boxers, whilst the older boy was wearing absolutely nothing at all. It had gotten too hot for him in the middle of the night and so he ended up removing all of his clothing, but it wasn't exactly like they did anything sexual with each other. That sort of thing was still out of bounds, especially since they had only just shared their first kiss. Of course, it wasn't that they had shared a bed that Chan was irritated about; rather, it merely added fuel to the fire that was already brewing for him.

"You'd better not wake my mommy up whilst I'm telling you this," he said threateningly before he started to explain whatever had ended up arising, "I'm not having you wake up such a beautiful angel when he's clearly tired enough to still be sleeping at eleven in the morning."  
"He's been asleep since ten last night," Seungcheol pointed out, making sure to add that he didn't intend on waking his boyfriend up anyway. Besides, Jeonghan was laid on his arm so it wasn't even like he could move if he wanted to do so. Rather, he figured that he would have to stay there for however long it took Jeonghan to finally wake up and turn towards him, although he guessed that he didn't mind all too much when he looked so beautiful curled up on his bed like that.

"So, your problem is that by kissing him last night, you ended up severely messing up a big aspect of the future," Chan pointed out with a sigh.  
"And what would that be?"  
"Well, the guy who is going to go on to essentially lay the foundations for time travel technology in the future is now considering dropping out of university and working in his parents' hostel. He saw my mommy coming towards your house yesterday and noticed that he was coming over to sort things out, and strangely, he doesn't believe that true love exists anymore. Had you not kissed him, he would've continued working just fine and forgotten it. But as you know, there are the butterfly effects--"

"What else could I have done?" Seungcheol argued, "Just allowed him to think that I don't care about him? Because I think that that would've damaged him more than anything. This is my future husband versus something that I barely have any control over. Surely someone else would pick up the pieces if he didn't make it to that point in this career path." Strangely, though, Chan just sighed and let out a hum of agreement. For a moment, Seungcheol didn't know whether he was hearing what he wanted to hear, or whether Chan was genuinely agreeing with him, and so he promptly asked if he'd misheard.  
"No, I understand. The problem is, if you _hadn't_ kissed him and he told you that he loved you, as he was planning to do if you didn't show that you loved him back, that would've caused worse problems. There would be an epidemic of measles and rubella in the Western world, which would have ended up making its way over to Korea. I've had a look at various probabilities and timelines to see if I could maybe go back and change it, at the expense of problems here in the future, but as much as I hate to admit it, you picked the best outcome."

That left Seungcheol feeling rather surprised. He'd not expected that his son would show him some sort of positive consideration like that, especially not when he'd come into his head acting as if he wasn't happy at all by his father's decisions up to that point. So he figured that it was best to simply accept that perhaps things had actually worked out well for once and his son had blown off the handles as a result of the workload that he was still being faced with regardless, and then moved on to ask if there was anything that he could do about that situation. It didn't seem like something that he could fix, after all, but then Chan almost always had some sort of solution for him.

He'd have to be incredibly careful about how he approached the situation, his son told him; he would be walking on thin ice as soon as he started to talk to the guy. Perhaps if he could get the guy to tell him about his work up until that point, he would be able to piece things together whilst avoiding bringing up what he already knew about future time travel. Perhaps he would even be able to make a few suggestions without telling him too much about his own work and risking damaging the future of time travel. He just needed to be able to think of how to approach it soon enough, even if it was going to be difficult. He was supposed to be handing in his notice to his university, letting them know that he was withdrawing from the course, by the following morning, so Seungcheol needed to be quick with his work. There was no time to sit around trying to become the guy's friend or anything; he needed to get in there fast and make him feel as if love was real and that his life's work is worthy in the end.

His name was Yao Mingming and he was supposed to be going to the park at various points in the day. He would be going back and forth between there and various shops - a coffee shop, grocery store, and a florist, to name a few - so Seungcheol had plenty of opportunities to help him fix things out. Of course, Seungcheol accepted right away and informed his son that as soon as Jeonghan had gone home, he would be straight there to sort things out. He would probably need some guidance, just to check that he wasn't messing up or making the situation worse, but that was something that Chan was planning on helping him with anyway. He'd arranged everything so that he could spend the day on his project, and so there would be nothing to separate them.

It took a further half hour for Jeonghan to wake, although Seungcheol wasn't irritated at all by how long he managed to sleep. When he rolled over, he looked so beautiful that Seungcheol made sure to keep that perfect image fresh in his mind. It was something that he was hoping to be able to use when he spoke with the guy later that day, if he had the chance to do so. He was more than happy to brag about how beautiful his boyfriend was, especially if the guy had noted their fight the night before without even knowing either of them properly. Seungcheol made sure to press a litter of little kisses to Jeonghan's face and hair before finally pressing one firm kiss on his boyfriend's lips, at which point his son pointed out that what he was doing was inappropriate. It wasn't going to cause further big butterfly effects, he said, but it was disgusting to have to watch them kissing like that. That was the prompt that Seungcheol needed to kiss him harder and more passionately, even making sure to slip his tongue past Jeonghan's lips in order to rub it in that little bit more.

Then, once they were finished having breakfast and got dressed, they ended up parting ways. Jeonghan went to get his groceries and Seungcheol made his way straight through to the park that Chan had specified. A quick confirmation with his son showed him that the guy was there, although he still had to guess who it was exactly. As with the moment that he'd met Jeonghan, Chan wasn't allowed to tell him exactly which guy he needed to talk to in the park until he approached him and sparked up a conversation, which was rather irritating but couldn't really be helped. So he started on his search, making sure to look for every sign that he could find that he was getting close to finding the right person.

It took a while, but eventually, he managed to find one particular boy who seemed to be rather bothered. "Is this the one?" Seungcheol asked his son, and Chan simply let out a hum of agreement again, rather than giving a solid answer. It was probably the closest that he could get to giving a proper answer, and so he decided to take that response and promptly moved to sit by the stranger on the park bench.

"You look like you're down," Seungcheol told him. He watched as the man's eyes quickly snapped towards him, and for a moment he looked incredibly wary as he seemingly didn't know how to respond to the situation. He stayed completely silent for a few seconds as he tried to judge the situation, before eventually just giving an awkward smile.  
"Sorry, have we met before?"  
"No, but I think we go to the same university. I've seen you around a few times. Y... Yao Mingming, is it?" Of course, it was a complete lie and Seungcheol had never seen the guy before in his life, but he needed to win over his trust quickly and that seemed like the best way to do so. He watched as the man's expression reflected his surprise before he finally gave an awkward laugh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't think I've ever had someone get my name right straight away," he confessed, his voice quickly growing shy.  
"You're from China, aren't you? One of my friends is from China too, so he taught me how to pronounce Chinese names properly." That seemed to please Mingming a lot, as he promptly gave a warm smile and didn't even try to withdraw back into himself. Seungcheol could tell that he was shy but he didn't seem antisocial in any way; perhaps he was just hoping that someone would make conversation with him or something. Either way, though, he knew that he'd found the right guy and could get straight to work, and that's what he was relieved about. First time lucky this time around.

"So, did you want to talk about what's getting you down? I know that we don't know each other or anything, but I wouldn't want you to feel like you have to keep that sort of thing inside. You know, it's a lot worse for you to keep that sort of thing inside of you, instead of letting it out when you need to do so. It's not something that you want to have to struggle with alone, regardless of what your problem actually is, and I know that I'm essentially a stranger, but I'm here for you if you need anything." Seungcheol tried to put in as much detail as possible so that he could show that he was genuine about helping him sort everything out, since he guessed that Mingming wouldn't usually be the sort of person who would openly tell a stranger about his problems, and he was absolutely relieved when he heard a soft hum leaving the boy's lips.

"It sounds ridiculous if I say it out loud."  
"No no, I'm sure it's fine," Seungcheol insisted, "If it makes you feel any better, I stopped talking to my partner for weeks because I was scared of falling in love with them, and I think that that sounds really stupid out loud." It probably wasn't the best response that he could've given, seeing as Chan had already informed him that the guy was struggling with his ideas about love and romance above everything else, but thankfully Mingming's eyes moved straight back up to meet Seungcheol's as soon as he heard the comment.  
"I guess that you're right about that. Your comment doesn't sound stupid to me, but I suppose that mine might not sound stupid to you either, right? And if you'd like me to listen to you as well, I'm more than happy to listen and help you where possible. It's probably the weirdest thing to hear it all from a stranger, but I suppose we go to the same university so it's okay."

The logic wasn't really there with the final comment, but Seungcheol figured that if he was using that in order to feel better about talking to someone he didn't really know about his issues, it was good enough for him too. It sparked a sudden flood from Mingming about how he didn't really have a lot of friends and had never had a successful date in his life, but his parents were so insistent that he needed to start thinking about marriage so he really needed to start working on that. They wanted him to have a future proposal on the horizon by the time he finished his university degree, and at that rate, he wasn't even going to get a girl to look in his direction by that point. So he decided that he was going to drop out of university and go home to China so that he would be able to be married off to someone and start a family. He needed to make his parents happy more than he needed the degree and besides, they didn't really think that he would get anywhere with an engineering course when there were so many people in the business already. The worst part was that he'd been hoping to work for technological engineering, which was even worse when it came to recruitment. As much as he could say that he didn't agree with their ideals for his life and wanted to just get on with everything so that he could be happy in himself, he could see where they were coming from - that was the worst part, frankly.

Seungcheol suddenly felt bad for the guy. He let him get all of his hurt and disappointment out into the open, but it was hard to actually think of a way to make things better. He knew that the guy had a lot to live for and would be great in his career path in the future - maybe even becoming the most important engineer in all of the time - but he could hardly say that. "Do you not think that you'll be able to do good things in the future with your degree, though?" he pointed out, making sure that he wasn't going to be treading on too much ice with the comment. "Just think about it; you could work with some of the top technology companies in China, Korea or Japan. If you like video games, you could maybe work with a big company like Nintendo. Maybe you could work to put advanced technology in cars or something. Who knows? You might even be the guy to invent time travel in the future."

 _"You're starting to get close to the line, dad,"_ Chan pointed out as soon as that comment left his lips, "I know you only hinted it and didn't say it properly, but you're really close to sparking more problems. I'll try to find something else that you can use while you butter him up; maybe that'll work better and reduce the number of problems that this conversation causes." Seungcheol knew that it was causing issues and that just made things harder for him, but he was suddenly glad that his son was stepping in to help him with it. Whilst Chan went ahead with his search, Seungcheol proceeded to bring up a number of other things, from the fact that marriage wasn't really everything and in modern times, it was more unnecessary than anything. Perhaps Mingming would want to get married in the future, but it wasn't something that had to come immediately, and he could certainly get somewhere in his life before he had to think about that.

That was when they hit a stump, though. Mingming offered up an awkward smile as he gave a soft sigh, and at that point, Seungcheol sensed that he was getting through to the core emotion that the boy was feeling. He'd only been sitting with him for about a half hour at that point, but he could tell that there was something that was really hurting Mingming and he needed to get it out. "I just feel like I'm going to be unloveable for the rest of my life," he confessed when prompted to do so, "Either I'll go home and have an arranged marriage and I'll have to spend several months trying to make her fall in love with me, or I'll become an engineer and I'll have to fight for love there, too. Either I'll be poor and girls will see me as a failure, or I'll be rich and they'll see my money first."

That was when Seungcheol realised that he was dealing with a guy who had crippling self-doubt. He felt bad about the fact that his own argument with Jeonghan had essentially triggered those sorts of feelings for him, and that the guy felt as if being loved by someone was the most important thing that a person could achieve in their lifetime, but he could hardly argue that it was a bad decision to dwell on those sorts of things. At times, he was exactly the same. Although he didn't really dwell on the thought of finding a romantic partner, he was occasionally faced with the reality of his romantic life; he'd ended up having a number of short-term relationship and one-night stands, and it did make him wonder whether he would actually be any good for a romantic relationship, or even a family, in the future. Perhaps he would be the sort of guy who would never commit, had he not met Jeonghan and found out that they would be together for the rest of their lives. Thankfully, though, Chan came back to him before he could spend too much time dwelling on that point.

"He's going to get married at twenty-five. I need you to tell it to him subtly, maybe let him know that it's the one girl on his course, if you're able to get that in. I've checked it out and the chance of any big world events or natural disasters following that would be particularly slim. I think it's best anyway, since it's supposed to be helping humanity out in the long run anyway. What's a small catastrophe across the world when you're sorting out a huge mistake that came as a result of an unavoidable situation?"

That was all Seungcheol needed. He knew exactly what he needed to say in order to get that information to him as soon as possible, and in a way that would convince Mingming to continue with his dreams. It was the best plan that he could come up with, although honestly, it wasn't exactly perfect, and so he offered a determined smile before getting on with it. "Do you think that it'd matter so much if you got with a girl who is into engineering instead of looking too far from what you enjoy?" he asked, watching how Mingming's expression suddenly changed to one of confusion. It was the interest that Seungcheol needed to see, and he immediately knew that he had Mingming's full attention. "Because I've heard that there's a girl on your course and she would probably make a pretty good girlfriend. Don't you agree?"

Suddenly, the boy's cheeks flushed a dark red. That told Seungcheol right away that he'd considered her at the very least, but certainly didn't feel like he was in the position to ask her on a date or anything. It only took a bit of prompting for him to find out that Mingming was attracted to her, although he was quick to point out that she would never fall for a guy like him. He wasn't typically handsome, he was nerdy and not particularly cool, and he was sure that she saw him as a friend. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable by putting her in the girlfriend zone when he was in her friendship zone. The last thing he wanted to do was make it seem like he was only nice to her in hopes that they would end up sleeping together.

Seungcheol couldn't help but laugh at the comment. Most of the guys he knew would go straight for the opportunity if it came up, but this guy was more concerned about breaking boundaries. If he was in Mingming's position, he knew that he would be trying to prove himself to be good as a romantic partner as well as a friend, just so that both outcomes could end up happening in the end. Yet, he supposed at least the guy respected girls enough to know his boundaries and not expect anything more than friendship when he wasn't entitled to it.

"Well, I think you should talk to her about taking her out somewhere. Maybe start it off as friends and build it up. Girls can move you from being 'just a friend' to being 'boyfriend material' rather quickly, depending on how you act with them. Flirt a bit, tease her, and make her miss you when you're gone." It seemed like simple enough advice, but Mingming seemingly clung on to every word. He did make sure to ask, though, what he would do if things didn't work out between them. There was always the chance that it wasn't going to work or that he'd never be able to get her to accept a date, but Seungcheol was quick to shake his head in response. "You just go for it. Continue with your degree, talk to her in class, and have confidence in yourself. Talk to yourself in the mirror each night if you have to. Just give it a shot; I'm sure that even if it doesn't work with her, it'll work with someone and you'll be married by the time you're twenty-five."

Score. He got it all in and the guy seemed to be convinced by the information that he was told. He did try to fake wariness by asking if Seungcheol was willing to bet on it or something and then compensate him by finding him a girlfriend if he wasn't married by that point and of course, Seungcheol was quick to accept the bet. It was something he knew was going to happen, after all, so it wasn't like he was going to lose out.

And that was that. They ended up exchanging phone numbers, since they had both enjoyed the conversation and Mingming needed to contact him if he didn't end up marrying by his twenty-sixth birthday, and then Mingming promised that he was going to get started on getting the girl's attention. They parted soon after, leaving Seungcheol alone with his son as he triumphantly made his way back towards his house.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm impressed by the fact that you managed to get him to completely reconsider everything _and_ start trying to get with the girl of his dreams in less than an hour. I suppose mommy did say that you have a way with words," Chan pointed out, and Seungcheol couldn't help but smirk to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've struggled a bit with this chapter, but I guess at least it's out and there'll be more after exams next week!! It's only just really starting to get into it, with Cheol having to deal with the issues that he's causing and all, but it's a learning curve for him at least!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	9. Chapter 9

For the most part, things got quieter for Seungcheol and Jeonghan once that butterfly effect had been sorted out. There was no need for Chan to butt in when their relationship was running at a more acceptable pace. There was minimal drama, for the most part, and they hadn't had any other arguments since their first kiss. They had a routine for when they got to see each other, and Seungcheol was quickly finding that being in a solid, respectful relationship worked wonders when it came to his maturity.

Throughout their relationship, though, Seungcheol started to notice a lot more changes in himself. It started out as little things, but then gradually started to develop until his behaviour and mannerisms were completely different to how they were before he met Jeonghan. Not only were there the little changes, like his choice of words when he was talking to other people, but also his general attitudes towards different aspects of his life. Strangely enough, he didn't even realise that it was the case to start with, since he was getting used to that side of himself and naturally settling down with Jeonghan. His boyfriend was helping to make him more considerate and grounded, and he really liked it. It wasn't something that bothered him, at least not until he realised that it was starting to affect his friendships and outside relationships in ways that he'd never imagined.

It wasn't really like he was bothered by it all that much, though. Seungcheol knew that Jeonghan was a lot more fun than most of his friends. They could comfortably sit with each other without feeling as if they had to do something. They were able to study for their exams and write their university papers whilst they were in the same room and could help each other out here and there without being a distraction. They had varied dates. Sometimes they would simply sit in either boy's bedroom and just chat for a while, other times they would go out food together. There were times where they went to aquariums and others where they would just take silly photos in Seoul. Jeonghan brought out the fun but adult side to Seungcheol that he thought had ceased to exist completely, and that was what made their relationship special.

His friends, on the other hand, were quite the opposite. They always had to be busy, and most of the time that included having sex with strangers or drinking so much alcohol that they ended up forgetting how they even managed to get home by the time they woke up. It was okay for young people to go out and have fun like that, but he frankly didn't understand how it was possible to do it every week now that he'd had the chance to step back and see it from a more rational perspective. Of course, there was a point in time in which he was able to do that too, but those times were long gone. The appeal was gone with it, and Seungcheol was honestly confused by how he was even able to do that in the past.

As a result, it ended up causing a lot of tension between them all. To start with, it didn't seem like a problem, as far as Seungcheol was concerned. Each time his friends asked him to go out with them, he would end up rejecting them in favour of spending time with Jeonghan, and that was the end of his involvement in the conversation. They would continue discussing it amongst themselves anyway, so it wasn't even like he'd completely dampened the topic. He couldn't justify doing it once or twice by telling himself that he enjoyed that sort of thing because it was no longer his idea of a good time. It wasn't even like they had a friendship outside of their classes and weekly visits to the clubs and bars. He rarely saw them outside of his classes now that his relationship was starting to take priority. 

By that point, however, they were starting to get bored of the fact that every time they asked him what he did over the weekend, the answer would almost always involve Jeonghan. Whilst he was also bored about the fact that he would have to listen to them discussing the people they'd picked up whilst they were out, he supposed at least it was something that everyone else in the group was interested in too. Commitment, on the other hand, wasn't something that any of his friends particularly enjoyed the thought of, so it was a different story for him. He didn't even realise how disinterested they seemed in his relationship for quite some time until eventually it was brought up in conversation during class.

"So, I'm guessing you're not in the mood to come out with us this weekend, as usual?" one of them asked him.  
"Of course he isn't," another replied on Seungcheol's behalf, "He has Jeonghan now. They're probably going to be watching some boring show about people who want to retire in the South of Taiwan or something. You know, the sort of thing that thirty-something-year-olds watch. He's turned into a thirty-something-year-old already." Seungcheol couldn't help but laugh when he heard the comment. It sounded absolutely ridiculous and he couldn't even begin to understand where they would get that sort of idea from. Yet, it took less than a minute for him to realise that they were absolutely serious about the comment. Neither of them looked happy at all, and he immediately felt his heart sink down into his stomach.

"Are you guys angry with me or something?" he asked, which earned a huff from a third friend, who had been relatively quiet throughout the lesson up until that point.  
"We just think that you've been obsessed with your relationship for the past few months. You won't even come out for meals with us anymore. It's a bit sad, really. You know, bros before hoes and all." Seungcheol couldn't help but scowl in response. He usually wasn't easy to get riled up, but he certainly wasn't going to just sit there and allow them to refer to Jeonghan as a whore. None of them had actually met him, as they had insisted that boyfriends and girlfriends weren't allowed to come along to any of their outings, and so they could hardly judge his boyfriend or anything. It was rather annoying, frankly; he knew that they would all get on with Jeonghan well if they got to know him, but he was pretty sure that they wouldn't even give him a chance if they did get to meet him.

He made sure to explain to them that they would need to actually meet Jeonghan if they wanted him to go along. After all, he was fully intending on marrying his boyfriend in the future. He knew that they would work out as a couple and that they would end up having a perfect life together. Whilst friends did mean a great deal to him, he wasn't prepared to sacrifice his relationship in favour of friends who didn't even care enough for him to meet someone who meant a lot to him. Whilst he was open to going out with them here and there, and he knew full well that Jeonghan would be okay with him having a life outside of their relationship, he had already highlighted that he didn't want to slip into his old habits again when he intended on fully committing himself to Jeonghan. It earned a few eye rolls, along with a comment about how he probably wasn't going to end up marrying Jeonghan in the future, but they guessed that they would have to see about that.

As much as it was annoying to hear them disregarding his relationship like that, he brushed off the comment in favour of justifying his decision some more. He couldn't afford to spend all of his time drinking alcohol. He didn't want to be the sort of guy to get blackout drunk and have a one-night stand with a random person. He knew that it would end up getting to that point, as he hadn't really had the opportunity to break the habit whilst drunk just yet, and so he wasn't prepared to risk it. Unless his boyfriend was there to ensure that he had someone to project his drunken arousal on to and make sure that he wasn't going overboard with the alcohol, he wasn't going to go out on pub crawls with them. Of course, though, that was all his friends wanted to do. They didn't want to spend time together properly without everyone getting incredibly intoxicated, and so he was a lot more comfortable with staying at home instead.

Surprisingly, it led to a rather big argument between them all. Despite the disagreements between them, it was probably the last thing that he'd expected to happen. Seungcheol insisted that he would go out with them if they weren't going to go to bars, but his friends pointed out that there was no point in just sitting in someone's room, just to chat for a few hours. They could do that at university without having to make a night of it. Besides, they weren't there for emotional chats or anything; they were supposed to be men and that wasn't something that was really appropriate for four men to do. Seungcheol tried to tell them that emotional chats with good friends weren't as ridiculous as they were making them out to be, but that led to them getting uncharacteristically angry with him and telling him to "fuck off" so that they could "enjoy making their plans without him being there to ruin everything, as he always did". 

In the end, Seungcheol decided that he was going to simply leave them to stew in their loathing for his suggestion without trying to reason with them any further and so left them alone as much as he could manage. They ended up sitting on separate tables during class, eating lunch away from each other, and avoiding each other where possible. The topic was never really brought up with anyone else, though, so it was something that was entirely between them. Seungcheol's parents weren't there to tell him whether his behaviour was ridiculous or whether it was completely justified, Chan knew not to bring it up, despite having seen everything that ended up happening, and then it was completely avoided when he ended up meeting up with Jeonghan. Of course, it if ended up coming up in conversation somehow, he wouldn't be able to hide it from his boyfriend, but he wasn't all that happy with the thought of having to discuss it with him.

In fact, it ended up taking three weeks for Jeonghan to find out about the situation. By that point, Seungcheol's friends were starting to talk to him again but were still rather wary in their approach towards him. It was as if they were concerned that he was going to try to pit them against each other or something. It was their usual reaction after they bickered; they didn't want any reason to start fighting again soon after the initial fights. It was probably the furthest from what Seungcheol wanted, in reality; he just wanted to be able to get on with them without the concern that they would be making snide comments about him behind his back. He was added back into the group chat and they seemed to all be incredibly active on it, which was suggesting to him that they didn't have a separate group chat to discuss how much they disliked him or anything.

Jeonghan ended up catching the notification on his boyfriend's screen and seemed rather curious when Seungcheol simply switched off the notifications for the chat. It was their time to be together, he told him, and so there was no need to check the group chat. "They were talking about going out, though," Jeonghan pointed out, "You know, I don't think you've ever mentioned going out with your friends to me in the past. Were you invited?" Seungcheol could tell that his boyfriend would be ready to fight his friends if he told him that he wasn't invited. There was no point in lying about that sort of thing, especially not when his boyfriend would eventually end up finding out about it regardless otherwise.

"Yeah, I mean... I just wasn't feeling it tonight. We had a bit of an argument a little while ago and it's still a bit tense. Plus I enjoy spending time with you instead." Jeonghan's eyebrow slowly started to raise with further curiosity, and so Seungcheol ended up confessing to him what the argument was about. It didn't take too much for him to be convinced by the younger boy's expectant stares. He was rather easy to get started with talking about that sort of thing, even if he was rather hesitant to discuss it beforehand. Naturally, Seungcheol was absolutely wrapped around his fingertip and was able to push his concerns about discussing that sort of thing to one side so that he could be open about everything that happened.

"Why didn't you just go out with them occasionally? I wouldn't mind at all, you know," he pointed out with an encouraging smile. The elder boy could feel his heart starting to sink down into his stomach as he realised that his player-like attitude was something that Jeonghan had never really seen before and it was something that he wasn't really willing to explain, as much as his boyfriend usually had the power to drag the truth out of him. That was a discussion for another day, when he didn't feel so uncomfortable with his past antics. The last thing he wanted to do was end up playing it off as if it was nothing, just in case it ended up creating distance between him and his boyfriend.  
"I think it's better that I don't," Seungcheol told him in a way that was as assured as he could manage, just so that he didn't try to argue against it. "They're into drinking and we used to go home separately anyway. You know how it is; you all get separated during the night and then end up making your own way home with fast food."

Jeonghan gave a hum of acknowledgement - Seungcheol would have taken it as an agreement, but he wasn't convinced that the younger boy completely agreed with him on that matter. "I don't think I've ever actually gone out drinking like that with friends before this. We've gone out on birthdays and such, but Shua doesn't drink alcohol because the taste makes him feel sick and some of the others are uncomfortable with being out when it gets dark." The way that he was putting it made it seem as if he was open to the idea, though, and so Seungcheol reluctantly suggested that perhaps they could get a drink in a bar sometime. He figured that if nothing else, it would ease his body into keeping his relationship at the forefront of his mind if he ever did decide to get drunk with his friends in the future.

"Actually, I think I'd much rather go out to a club with you. Maybe spend some time enjoying the music and dancing together. We could even get a pizza on the way home if you'd like."  
"Really?" Seungcheol asked, making sure to show his moderate discomfort with the idea through his voice. He didn't want to make it too obvious that he wasn't completely on board with the idea, but at the same time, he really wasn't as down for the idea as his boyfriend was. Whilst it probably sounded good in theory, he knew that it wasn't going to end all too well when they got to it. He knew that if they ended up going home together after a few drinks, he would end up on his knees for Jeonghan. He knew that his boyfriend had a way of convincing him to join in with things, and it would lead him to lose all self-control once they had a bit of privacy.

As much as it would be nice to be able to share some passion with Jeonghan again, it didn't really feel like the ideal way to go about things. For starters, he wanted to remember it now that it wasn't just a random fling with a guy who was expecting that nothing would come out of their brief romance. It would pay to make it something special and loving in which they both radiated mutual love and affection, rather than the stench of alcohol. Secondly, he knew that his son would pop up to tell him that it was a bad idea and he shouldn't do it. That would open up another whole can of worms; he would have to fight between what he wanted and what his son was telling him about the butterfly effects, plus there was a chance that he would accidentally reveal the fact that he was in contact with their son from the future to Jeonghan. He didn't know how badly that little bit of information would affect the rest of the world, but he guessed that it would cause a number of new issues regardless. That was what all of the movies suggested, anyway.

"Are you sure that you'd like to go to a club?" he asked, "I mean, we can always get a few drinks and sit in here for a while, if that works out better?" Of course, that wasn't good enough for Jeonghan. He let out a childish whine as he dramatically draped himself over Seungcheol's body, then stared up at him with puppy eyes.  
"Cheol, I think it would be fun to go out, though. I've never been out clubbing before, and I want to share that experience with you for the first time." From that point, he knew that nothing he could say would be able to change Jeonghan's mind. He'd already made it up and wasn't willing to accept no as an answer.

"Come on, I want to go as soon as possible. Perhaps even next week, if we're allowed to do that. Could we go to a club together next weekend? We probably won't be out for long or anything. You know how I am with early nights." It certainly didn't seem like it was the sort of scene that Seungcheol would ever see Jeonghan in, but he supposed that he could hardly reject his wishes when he was asking so nicely. After all, they would be together whilst they were there, and that would ensure that Seungcheol wouldn't end up looking at other people. He hoped that it would mean that they would end up going home early too, since he figured that his boyfriend would probably be tired easily and not want to stay out until the early hours of the morning. They would be able to get home, curl up in their pyjamas, and then finish the night off with a takeaway and some romance film.

Perhaps it could work out for them in the end, if it actually went how he was hoping for it to go. It was just a matter of hoping for things to work out that way, but he knew Jeonghan enough to know that it would be easy enough to tire him out. He gave a little nod and offered up the warmest smile that he could manage, given his recent wariness. "I suppose we could give it a try, if that's what you really want to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while and I've been struggling to get back into the swing of writing fiction after two weeks of non-fiction. It's quite a short chapter as a result but I guess there was only so much that I could write in this one. I'm hoping to get another chapter out on time next week, though, and that one will be a lot longer in comparison!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	10. Chapter 10

By the time they actually got around to going to a club together, Seungcheol had made peace with the fact that his boyfriend was almost certainly going to see a completely new side to him. He figured that it would be the thing that would make or break their relationship; if his boyfriend could handle him when he was drunk and barely able to focus on anything, he would surely be able to handle anything that their relationship threw at him. Seungcheol trusted that Jeonghan would be able to do just fine and that if they were there together, they would simply end up stumbling back to his place in a drunken mess, but he supposed that they still had yet to see the outcome of the situation.

It was strange. Jeonghan put more time and effort into getting ready to go out for a night at a club than he did when they went on dates. Not only did he spend a painfully long time picking out appropriate clothes to wear, but he also tried to make his hair and makeup look good, too. Seungcheol had never really seen his boyfriend in makeup but he wasn't really complaining about it. Whilst it would have been a bit weird if he'd gone overboard with it, Jeonghan was actually rather good at applying it. By the time he was done, his complexion was perfect, he had highlighted cheekbones, and his eyes were made up perfectly. He gave his upper lid and the outer corner of his eye an orange touch, which only made the brown in his eyes look deeper and more unique, and then lined above his eyes in order to make them look bigger. Frankly, Seungcheol thought he looked perfect, especially when his boyfriend tied his hair up in a messy bun. Whilst it was far from what he was used to with Jeonghan, he loved the new look that he had for the night and was certain that it would make heads turn as soon as they entered the club.

He, on the other hand, chose something basic to wear. It was essentially what he always wore to those clubs, with the added bonus of a ring and bracelet that he and Jeonghan had bought each other to match as spontaneous gifts. It was his sign that he was taken and that no one else had permission to flirt with him. He was certain that Jeonghan would make that obvious anyway, but it was just to make sure. In fact, he was also hoping that it would stop people from asking stupid questions, too. He'd spent a lot of time in those clubs over his time in university, and so he'd come to know the people who worked there rather well. There were some members of staff in particular, though, who were rather poor at reading the situation and would probably stick their foot straight in it. He didn't really want that bit of tension, nor did he want to have to explain things to his boyfriend, so he figured that the best option was to try to make it as explicit as he possibly could without having a huge badge on his chest that read "My name is Choi Seungcheol and this man, Yoon Jeonghan, is my boyfriend/future husband".

Eventually, they managed to leave the house. It had taken countless checks that they had their identification cards and money and phones and keys and just about anything else that they could possibly need. Whilst Seungcheol would have much preferred to just get on with it and left as soon as possible without having to check everything over and over again, he was admittedly rather glad that he had Jeonghan to ensure that he wasn't going to be left in a position where he ran out of cash and had to walk home because he'd forgotten his bank card, or in a situation where he had to sleep at a friend's house because he left his keys inside the house and didn't want to wake up his roommates at four in the morning. It gave him that sense of control, and frankly he thought that it was the best way to go about it if it meant that they would be prepared for everything that the night had to throw at them.

Seungcheol could feel Jeonghan clinging to his hand as they walked together. His fingers were clammy, as if he was nervous about the situation and starting to panic a bit, but Seungcheol simply gave his hand a gentle squeeze before informing him that it was fine and he should just relax because it was all going to be okay. Jeonghan offered up a weak smile and nodded, although it was clear that the words only served to make him feel a bit better. It was better than nothing, though, and at least he appreciated the gesture. The walk to the club was thankfully rather quick so they didn't have to worry about his nerves building any further, and so they were quick to get inside and away from the cold of the night.

The club was a very different atmosphere to the street. The first thing that hit Seungcheol was the familiar heat of the building as they passed through the front door. It was the heat from countless bodies dancing up against each other, mixed with the additional heat from the lights and the smoke machine. He could feel his heart starting to beat faster in response to the environment that he knew so well, and he couldn't help but let out a content sigh as he pulled his boyfriend into the large room. It was set up exactly how he remembered it - not that it was going to change too drastically in just a few months or anything - and so he made a beeline straight for his old position at the bar with Jeonghan still in tow. Once they arrived at the bar, he made sure to show off his relationship status to everyone in the surrounding area by wrapping an arm around his boyfriend, then kissed him on the cheek before asking him what he wanted.

Of course, Jeonghan didn't really know what he wanted. He hadn't really heard of any types of alcohol, nevermind tried them, so he didn't know what to expect or anything. He didn't know which alcohols would sit well with him and which ones would make him feel ill. He didn't even know whether he preferred a more crisp alcohol or a fruity one or whether he enjoyed a mix of different sorts. In the end, Seungcheol picked a pitcher for himself and ended up getting a similar one for his boyfriend, except with less alcohol. He didn't really want Jeonghan's first proper experience with clubs to result in him getting ill from mixing his drinks and then ending up spending the entire night vomiting. In fact, he didn't really want to spend the night holding his boyfriend's hair back as he spent the night draped over the toilet either. It would probably end up putting Jeonghan off for life, and if he were in that situation, Seungcheol knew that he wouldn't be able to trust the person who made the decision for him again once he'd recovered.

Despite his earlier nerves, Jeonghan was straight into the pitcher. He got himself a straw and began to slurp it down hard until he'd downed almost half of the jug without taking a breath. At that point, he pulled away so that he could catch his breath again, which immediately caught the attention of the bartender. The guy gave a warm laugh and asked him if he was okay before turning his attention to Seungcheol. "Is this your hook-up for the night, then? He seems to be quite thirsty for alcohol right now, but let's hope that he's thirsty for you by the end of the night." He offered up a wink before turning towards one of the customers who had come over to the bar, which earned a shocked stare from Jeonghan as he turned to face Seungcheol again.

Perhaps making their relationship explicit hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped. He supposed that even though he'd tried to make it clear by getting touchy with Jeonghan and getting him a drink and all, maybe it would have looked like it was something temporary to people who had never known him to commit to one person for too long. It was a bit of a surprise that the bartender had readily accepted that Seungcheol could have had a male hook-up too, although obviously that wasn't the focus of the topic at that point. He would probably end up discussing that with the guy at a later point, so he put it in the back of his mind for whenever he was ready to have that sort of discussion with the guy.

"What does he mean, am I your next hook up?" _Damn_. All Seungcheol could do was give an awkward smile before informing him that he might have been a little bit of a player before they met. Of course, it hadn't happened since they got together, though; he'd decided to completely change his attitude towards relationships when they found each other. It wasn't something that he was going to go into detail on for the moment but it was a conversation that he was happy to have with Jeonghan when they were alone. For now, he was going to make sure that the bartender knew that he'd actually settled down.

Jeonghan still seemed to be rather curious and tried his best to ask as many questions as possible, but his efforts ended up being fruitless. Seungcheol honestly wasn't prepared to go into the details whilst they were trying to have a good night out together. He didn't want to ruin the mood by mentioning things that his boyfriend didn't approve, especially not when they had only just gone out. After all, it was supposed to be the experience that decided whether or not they would be going out to a club together in the future or not, and although Seungcheol was concerned about the fact that they decided to explore the city's nightlife, he didn't really want to ruin it intentionally. It could have quite easily been something that Jeonghan really liked, and so he supposed that it was unfair to sabotage that for him.

He went back to the bartender again to ask what he'd meant when he seemed knowing about his relationship with Jeonghan. The guy simply gave a shrug before leaning over the bar towards him. "I don't know what it is about you, but you seem like the sort of guy who would find an attractive guy and would be all over him." It was strange; Seungcheol had never really seen himself as the sort of person who would obviously be attracted to a man in the future. He supposed that it must've been something about his attitude to girls, since his attraction to them had never really seemed to have any level of permanence.

"What would you say if you found out that we're in a relationship?" he asked as he took another sip of his drink. The bartender's eyebrows raised, although a smile touched his lips at the same time.  
"How long for?"  
"Seven months. And a little bit."  
"Wow." He seemed more surprised than anything but also rather impressed. He seemed to be happy with the fact that Seungcheol had managed to settle down in a relationship, and even made sure to spend some time chatting with Jeonghan to get to know him.

"So, Jeonghan, could I get you a free drink for being the only one of Seungcheol's partners to last?" He was dropping him a bit deeper into the hole that had been dug but by that point, Seungcheol could hardly say that he cared. At least the bartender hadn't revealed exactly how short all of his past relationships had been; whilst it would make it clear why he was nervous about first kisses and saying the big three words that solidify their relationships, it was embarrassing.

Of course, Jeonghan accepted the offer and ended up doubling up with drinking the two pitchers; one straw in each and forcefully chugging both at the same time. Seungcheol was concerned about the fact that he had been mixing drinks so readily, but he made sure to monitor him the entire time. Once they had both finished their drinks, he made sure to thank the bartender before promising that they would be back later in the night, and then promptly led his boyfriend straight to the middle of the room to dance.

Jeonghan took to dancing straight away. He naturally slipped into the swing of the music, making sure to reach out for Seungcheol's hands as soon as they were close enough for him to do so. He pulled his boyfriend deeper into the crowd so that they would be forced to dance closer to each other, then gave a devious smile as he pulled Seungcheol close to his chest so that every wiggle of his hips forced their bodies to brush against each other. It was strikingly obvious straight away that the alcohol had hit him hard and Jeonghan was a sexy drunk - much like Seungcheol, who was the sort of drunk to get easily worked up and aroused. It was a huge mistake right away; it only confirmed that their end to their night would be just as fun as their time in the club, and there was no way that either of them would back out from it.

The touches exchanged between them were hardly subtle. At one point, Jeonghan's hand "accidentally" brushed against the front of his boyfriend's trousers, but his expression showed absolutely no remorse when he apologised. In fact, there even seemed to be a little sparkle in his eyes when he whispered his apology, and he made a point of getting close to him again straight away. The most attractive part of the dancing, though, was getting to see Jeonghan mouthing the lyrics to the songs as he completely let go. For once, it seemed as if his confidence with being vocal had been lost; he was allowing the music to drown his voice out instead of joining the others around them who were belting out the lyrics as loudly as they could manage.

Eventually, it got to be too hot on the dance floor and so they ended up making their way back to the bar. Despite the younger boy's attempts at looking his very best when they went out together, the look was completely lost by the time they got to the side of the room again. His clothes were stuck to his body and Seungcheol could feel the dampness of his sweat as he wrapped an arm around him. His hair was starting to fall out of the bun as a direct result of the amount of moving that he was doing, and his eye makeup was already starting to bleed down his face. He was panting, his face starting to flush already.

And frankly, he was beautiful.

Seungcheol swore he'd made the right choice to pick Jeonghan. He was so, so thankful that his future self had chosen him in his timeline. It was the best decision that he could have possibly made; he needed a person who not only helped him to settle, but also someone who dragged out his lively, fun side too. He needed someone who wasn't afraid to be himself; someone who would encourage him to show all of his colours throughout their journey together. Jeonghan was the one. He was the only person that Seungcheol had met who he would have quite frankly had children with right away. In the moment that he was staring at the sweaty mess in front of him, the only thing on his mind was how the breadth of his feelings towards his boyfriend was indescribable.

"I'm starting to get a bit tired," Jeonghan confessed with an awkward smile, "I'm sorry for dragging you out all this way for just a few hours."  
"It's fine by me. Maybe we should get one more drink, listen to one or two more songs, and then start on our way home?" The suggestion earned a nod of approval and so they did just that. Naturally, "one more drink" referred to another pitcher each, since they were incredibly cheap at that particular club, and they both had a straw each in either jug as they got through both drinks in a minute flat. They then made their way straight back over to the outside of the crowd so that they could dance for a little while longer without having to push their way back to the less-congested areas once they were finished, and then made a mutual agreement to leave after around three or four more songs.

They made their way back towards Seungcheol's house at a speed that almost had them both falling over. It was clear as soon as the club was out of view that there was some sexual tension between them, which came as a result of Jeonghan whining for a kiss before they had even made it down one street. He tried to show what he wanted without using words but Seungcheol knew exactly what he was expecting right away and so only offered him a gentle peck on the lips. It earned another whine, although instead of arguing against it, Jeonghan was quick to snatch up Seungcheol's wrist so that he could drag him towards his house.

The walk didn't take too long, especially not when Jeonghan let go of his boyfriend in favour of speedwalking through the streets, forcing Seungcheol to jog in order to keep up. Once they were almost at the house, Jeonghan made a point of missing his boyfriend's hand and brushing his hand against his crotch instead, which fired him right up for everything that was due to follow. As soon as they reached the front door, they were left making out heavily against the side of the house. Seungcheol could taste that his boyfriend was completely and utterly intoxicated, and that he was more desperate than anything to have a bit of loving contact. As much as he didn't really want to let their night get to that point, Seungcheol couldn't bring himself to stop it at all. Instead, he gave it back as well as Jeonghan was giving it, then mumbled against his lips that they would carry on when they got up to his room. Frankly, he didn't really want to be caught pegging his boyfriend out in the open like that.

It took around ten seconds for Jeonghan to move to the door, in a desperate attempt to get what he wanted that little bit quicker. Seungcheol struggled to wrestle the key into the hole and then opened it with a force that neither of them had really expected. It was shut again as soon as they entered the house, their shoes were toed off at record speed, and then they made their way straight through to his room. At that point in time, neither of them really cared whether they were being too loud; they didn't want to waste any time in getting in there so that they could start what they had been planning to do.

Jeonghan's hands were all over him right from the start. He was grasping at absolutely anything; tugging whatever his fingers touched and peeling clothes off whenever he found them underneath his touches. Seungcheol could barely keep up. Between trying to keep the kiss going and trying to match his boyfriend's speed when it came to undressing him, it was a bit of a challenge to keep himself thinking straight. By the time he'd removed Jeonghan's shirt, he was stood in just his boxers with his trousers on the floor and hair in a complete state. In the end, Jeonghan had to help him to finish getting them both undressed before they collapsed back onto the bed together. The heavy kisses resumed, this time paired with touches all over bare skin, but then Seungcheol's ridiculous drunk mind decided to speak up where it wasn't needed.

"I love you so much," he breathed against Jeonghan's lips. As soon as the words met the air, Jeonghan froze. He seemingly didn't know what to do with himself. It was as if he was a computer system who had been given an unfamiliar command or something. In an instant, he'd been sobered up completely and he shifted back so that he could look into Seungcheol's eyes.  
"What?"  
"I..." The words didn't come out as easily now that he was thinking about it. The first time had been a complete accident but had seemed completely reasonable, as far as his drunken mind was concerned. But it was true. He did love Jeonghan. He loved absolutely everything about him, including all of his annoying quirks and the way that he would steal his socks whenever he went over to stay at Seungcheol's house. It wasn't the drunkness speaking lies, but rather, the drunkness giving him the confidence to speak the truth. "I love you," he blurted again, this time making direct eye contact with him, "I love you so much Jeonghan."

It earned another kiss, although this time, Jeonghan was a lot more gentle. Seungcheol supposed that he'd killed the arousal that was starting to surface by saying such an intimate phrase. He could feel his boyfriend smiling against his lips right up until the point where he pulled away from the kiss, and then they made eye contact once again. "I love you too, Seungcheol. I didn't really expect to hear it from you like this, but I hope you'll say it to me again int he morning when I know that you're sober and you mean it. Will you say it to me when we wake up?" There was nothing else he could do. Whilst he would have liked to just leave it there and then whip the phrase out again at a later date when he was more comfortable with saying it, he could hardly _not_ tell Jeonghan that he loved him when he was concerned that it might have been a result of his drunkness, as opposed to his actual feelings.

"I'll say it to you when we wake up," he promised as he encouraged his boyfriend to lay next to him, and then curled himself around Jeonghan's body. He knew full well that the mood had shifted and it was a lot sweeter now, and that wasn't really the right time to continue the process of screwing his boyfriend. Instead, it seemed a lot better and more appropriate for them to take it one step at a time and simply go to sleep for the moment. After all, he supposed that Jeonghan would probably end up being sick if his insides were churning about after the amount of alcohol that he'd consumed. Being vomited all over was probably the one thing that Seungcheol would never be able to forgive when it came to sex, so he figured that for now, he would be able to hold back and try his best to avoid that situation.

It was fine to cuddle, anyway. He loved being able to cuddle against Jeonghan when he had the chance to, so it was hardly like the sex really mattered all that much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's quite a lot in this one, but I really see Jeonghan as the sort of guy who is ready to go home after maybe an hour or two in a club so I suppose it worked out for it to be a relatively fast-paced chapter. It's really starting to move forward now!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	11. Chapter 11

Seungcheol ended up waking a lot earlier than he expected the next morning. It was helped by the smells that were drifting into his room under the door and the fact that suddenly, Jeonghan wasn't curled up in his arms. He was absolutely certain that his boyfriend had stayed with him the night before and wouldn't have left him without at least leaving a note. He checked around the room to make sure that he hadn't missed an obvious letter scrawled down by his boyfriend and then checked his phone too so that he was absolutely certain that there was no message. Then his eyes found the pile of clothes on the bedroom floor - ones that he recognised to be Jeonghan's from the night before - and that told him straight away that he was probably just somewhere else in the house.

He sighed a breath of relief as he scrambled out of bed and tugged on a pair of sweatpants that were tossed lazily over his chair before making his way out of his room. The smell hit harder as soon as he was out in the openness of the house, filling his nose and invading his head. He was hungry now; he hadn't realised until the familiar scent of bacon and batter started to take over his senses, but he could already feel his stomach starting to growl with longing for whatever was being cooked in the kitchen. He gradually made his way through the house, making sure to be as quiet as possible so that he could check who was making breakfast before he got ahead of himself and had to fight back the urge to take some of their meal. Step by step, he made his way closer until he could hear the voices of those who were inside the kitchen.

The first was Jeonghan's voice. Seungcheol could tell that from a mile away. He'd become used to hearing Jeonghan's voice, even more than he'd become used to hearing his housemates' voices. In fact, he knew that he was talking to _one_ of them, but he couldn't really put a finger on which of them he was chatting with. It didn't really matter all that much anyway, though, since he wasn't really interested in starting conversation with the other guy; whilst it was nice for most people to be able to spend time with their housemates and get to know them, no one in their house was really that bothered about trying to be friends. They all had different interests, different courses at university, and they were merely living in the same space. As long as they all tidied up after themselves, kept out of everyone else's way, and were generally courteous, no one really bothered with each other. Of course, Jeonghan wasn't really the sort of person to be fumbling around someone else's house without introducing himself, though, so he was happily conversing with the other guy as if they were close friends or something.

Seungcheol decided that that was good enough for him. He could enter the kitchen without staring longingly at someone else's food if his boyfriend was in there with him. He made his way into the room without wasting too much more time, which immediately brought a grin to Jeonghan's face as he chirped a morning greeting. Seungcheol's housemate was quick to excuse himself and thanked Jeonghan for the time that they had spent together chatting, and then promptly left them alone together. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce you to everyone before you stayed the night for the first time," Seungcheol said, as if he had genuinely intended on introducing them at some point, but his boyfriend insisted that it was no problem. They'd only chatted for a few minutes whilst the guy ate his rice. In that time, they had learnt each other's names and a little bit about each other, and he supposed that that was perfectly sufficient. He would probably get to know everyone over time anyway.

All of the attention then turned to the food on the kitchen side. Seungcheol quietly asked what it was, having never really expected that his boyfriend would be cooking what appeared to be an American-style breakfast, and Jeonghan informed him right away. "It's pancakes, bacon and cheese. Shua taught me the recipe and said that it tastes really nice, and you already had the ingredients in your cupboards and shelf of the fridge so I thought I might as well go ahead and give it a shot." He punctuated it with a sweet smile as he flipped the pancake that was in the frying pan.  
"You didn't have to make me breakfast, you know," Seungcheol pointed out. He did appreciate it a lot, but the last thing he wanted to do was make it seem as if he was expecting Jeonghan to take on the role of cooking when they were together. If they spent time at Seungcheol's house, they would often end up having fast food for dinner, but dinners at Jeonghan's dorm were usually cooked. The last thing he wanted to do was make it seem as if he expected Jeonghan to take on that sort of role.

Yet, Jeonghan simply gave a hum of acknowledgement before flashing a playful glance at him. "I know, but my mom always said that there are only two ways to wake up your man when he lets you stay over for the night. You either wake him with the most mindblowing blowjob of his entire life, or you make him breakfast to show him that you're a keeper and you care about his wellbeing." Seungcheol had to admit that he was impressed. It was probably the last thing he expected Jeonghan's mother to say, but he guessed that that sort of thing did actually work rather well when it came to relationships. He was glad that she was able to discuss such topics with her son openly, to the point where he didn't feel embarrassed by her advice and actually took it on board when they were together.  
"So you decided against the blowjob?" he asked teasingly as he moved forward to wrap his arms around his boyfriend. It earned a playful bat with the spatula, and another when Seungcheol's hand shifted to rest on Jeonghan's bare thigh. He was wearing one of Seungcheol's t-shirts and a pair of shorts - it was something that he hadn't really noticed to start with, but began to take in some more when the initial fixation on the food had started to face.

"I didn't think it was appropriate," Jeonghan pointed out as he brought the plate closer to the pan. Once he was certain that the pancake was ready, he slid it over to the top of the stack, then promptly added the cheese, bacon, and some maple syrup to the top. It was something that Seungcheol didn't realise he had, but he supposed that he must've gotten it from somewhere, since his housemates certainly wouldn't be able to afford to splash out on syrups. Jeonghan continued, "I mean, we did decide that we were going to take sex a bit slower, but if you'd like me to put my breakfast on hold so that I can blow you as you eat, I'm more than happy to do that." It was fine, Seungcheol insisted right away; he didn't really want to take it too far too soon, just in case they ended up regretting it. After all, it wasn't really like they had to rush. They were well past the point where they felt as if they needed to rush, and there was no point in turning back now and pretending that it was an absolute necessity that confessing love meant sleeping together too.

It did serve as a small reminder for Seungcheol, though. He immediately had flashbacks to the night before, in which he stupidly confessed his love to Jeonghan without thinking it through, and quickly decided that it was best to say it again without prompt. That would show that he genuinely meant what he'd said, even though it had been whilst he was heavily intoxicated, and he knew that it would win him some points with his boyfriend right away. "Thank you. I love you," he said as he took the plate from Jeonghan, noting how his entire face instantly lit up when he head those words passing his lips. Without trying to make it seem as if it was a big deal, Seungcheol pressed a gentle kiss to his boyfriend's cheek, then promptly went to take a seat at the table. Jeonghan was soon to follow, having already made himself a plate in advance so that he wouldn't have to start cooking another batch if he had to take the breakfast through to the bedroom for Seungcheol.

For the moment, he was completely silent. Seungcheol figured that he was suddenly hit with the realisation that they had passed another hurdle in their relationship and were actually confessing to having feelings now, and that it just made their relationship that little bit more real for the younger boy. Whilst obviously it was real beforehand, there was something new about telling each other that they loved the other person; it was novel and sweet and something that meant a lot when they had been together for so long. It was probably the case that Jeonghan hadn't really heard it all too many times from someone he'd really had feelings for, as he'd told Seungcheol that he'd had very few relationships in the past and all of them had moved way too fast, so it was especially pleasing for Jeonghan to hear.

Eventually, though, he started to get chatty again. It was as if the realisation had scared him for just a moment, but then he came to decide that it was actually a good thing that they had hit that milestone. He was excitable and happy and wanted nothing more than to discuss the fun night that they'd had together. He hadn't expected to have enjoyed the club but it was probably one of the best nights out that he'd had in a long time. Alcohol wasn't really his thing still, as much as he did enjoy the pitchers, but he was happy to have tried it out in an environment where he wasn't really left vulnerable afterwards. In fact, as much as he'd been touchy and desperate as soon as the alcohol hit him, he was proud to confess that he remembered everything that had happened and wouldn't change a moment of it.

Seungcheol went to reply by telling him that he was proud of him, but his sentence was cut short halfway when Chan finally appeared and hissed something about them needing to talk as soon as possible, which left it sounding as if he was going to add something else to what he'd said. Of course, the way that their son had spoken over him like that meant that Seungcheol completely forgot how he was supposed to be ending his sentence and his boyfriend just stared at him expectantly, waiting for some sort of continuation with what he was saying. Seungcheol ended up simply apologising and continued to eat his breakfast without responding to Chan, who immediately snatched up the silence between them for his own rant.

"How many times have I told you?" he said to Seungcheol. His tone showed that he was absolutely seething and not ready for any excuses. "How many times have I told you that your actions can have huge consequences and you should talk to me before you make any big decisions? You not only went out drinking with him, but you almost ended up having sex with him again, you told him that you _love_ him, and then he ended up staying for the night." Seungcheol really didn't feel like he could handle that sort of conversation for the moment, but he simply took a sip of the juice that Jeonghan had brought to the table along with his meal so that he had a chance to talk to his son briefly and thus brush him off for a while.  
"What do you think I should do, then?" he asked as he shifted his gaze away from his boyfriend, "What can I do when he's all over me? One thing or the other would've happened, and you know full well that he would end up being scolded by the staff at his university if he was caught sneaking in after curfew, completely drunk. I don't even think his parents would be okay with it either. Would you have preferred it if I just left him on the street to get attacked or something?"

Chan didn't answer. They both knew that Seungcheol had taken the best course of actions, given the circumstances that they were in, and it would've turned out worse for both of them if they approached the situation from any other direction. Their parents almost certainly wouldn't have been impressed to have them staying at either of their houses when both boys were so drunk, even though they were both adults and were legally able to go out to clubs, and the university would have taken it even worse. For a moment, Seungcheol felt triumphant; he made sure to show that off by finishing his drink in one go and then placing it down on the table as he offered up a warm smile to his boyfriend. Jeonghan seemed amused by the fact that he'd managed to down it without even taking a breath, especially seeing as he was drinking it rather slowly.

"I suppose you're right," Chan grumbled, "And you're lucky because I haven't found any big butterfly effects that have occurred as a result of what you did. Maybe it fits okay with the timeline or something. I doubt that it's the world thanking you for your choices." That shut him up for a while; Seungcheol was able to converse with his boyfriend again without considering his son, and Chan didn't even try to communicate with him in that time. He was probably embarrassed by how he'd blown up like that, Seungcheol figured. That was usually the case with his son; it was becoming a recurrent theme almost every time they spoke. He guessed that Chan would be the irritating one out of all of his sons; the one who was constantly trying to make everything work out perfectly, alongside whatever plan he'd made for the event. Or rather, he hoped that Chan was that one; he didn't think that he would be able to handle eleven boys like that, especially not when his son was so insistent that they follow the exact map that he'd planned out for them. It was as if they were pawns or something, living out the life that he'd made up for them until they'd hit all of their relationship milestones.

"Do you want me to stay for a few more hours?" Jeonghan asked when they finished eating breakfast. Whilst Seungcheol did have some errands to run that day - namely, grocery shopping and going in search for a mini sewing kit to fix one of his shirts - he knew that it would bug his son even more if they were to spend as much time together as possible. He gave a hum of agreement before suggesting that perhaps they could spend the day watching horror films and cuddling, then maybe kiss during the scary parts. As expected, his boyfriend was instantly on board with that idea and seemed to be genuinely excited to get started. He didn't really like horror films because they really scared him, Jeonghan said dramatically as he scooped up the plates and took them through to the kitchen. He couldn't stand the thought of seeing someone being murdered brutally on screen, and he would definitely need to have boyfriend kisses as soon as that happened so that he wouldn't end up having nightmares. The comment was punctuated with a devious smile, and Seungcheol immediately knew that he meant business.

The dishes were washed in record speed, with every item balanced perfectly on the drying rack for them to deal with later, and then they promptly made their way through to the bedroom again so that they could get started. The bed was made so that they would be able to sit on it comfortably, and then the laptop was snatched up from the floor. They made sure to position themselves so that their backs were against the wall, and then the film was loaded up on the laptop. A quick tap of the mouse and it began to play on the screen, thrusting them straight into the establishing horror scene that was common in these sorts of films.

Seungcheol could almost hear Chan's discomfort with the number of times that they ended up kissing during the film. It happened constantly, and for much longer than Seungcheol had imagined it would. They were barely watching what was happening on the screen at all; Jeonghan was particularly jumpy when watching psychological horror films so he could hardly watch for more than a few seconds before he started to prepare for another scare again. Seungcheol would feel his boyfriend starting to tense up in anticipation as the music started to hint towards another scare, and he would drag him straight into another kiss. They had both seen the movie before, so they knew when they would be seeing anything scary. This particular film used high tension and discomfort a lot in order to keep the viewers on edge throughout their time watching, so it was perfect for their bonding time.

By the time the film finished, their lips were dry and kiss-swollen from the amount that they'd been on each other's faces. It was hardly like they regretted it, though; Jeonghan was smiling sheepishly when he realised, and Seungcheol didn't even try to hide the huge grin that found its way onto his lips. It had been what they wanted right from the start, although neither of them wanted to really confess that they would've liked any excuse to just kiss each other as many times as they could before Jeonghan had to go home.

"Do you need me to leave urgently?" Jeonghan finally asked when the laptop was closed again. The puppy eyes that he was giving Seungcheol suggested that he wasn't really ready to leave just yet and frankly, the elder boy didn't really want his boyfriend to go either. He shook his head quickly, ignoring the niggling little part of his mind that insisted that he really needed to get groceries that day. He could always order food online if need be, he told himself; if he had a homemade breakfast, there was nothing stopping him from getting a delivery for dinner. He watched as Jeonghan's entire face lit up, and then his boyfriend piped up again. "Would you mind if I used your shower please?" he asked, "I just feel so grubby and gross after last night. You know, I didn't even wash my face when we got back, and I think it's pretty disgusting really."

Of course, Seungcheol was definitely open to letting him use the shower. He'd actually been longing to see Jeonghan fresh out of the shower for quite some time, but they'd never needed to take showers during the time that they were together. There was something strangely pure about seeing Jeonghan wrapped in a towel with his wet hair sticking to his face, and the thought of seeing that made Seungcheol's excitement rise. It made their relationship feel more permanent - more domestic - and that was a feeling that he was looking forward to sharing with Jeonghan. He searched for a towel for his boyfriend to use then led him through to the bathroom. The shower was turned on, and then he waited for the temperature to settle before turning around to leave the room.

And there stood Jeonghan, completely naked. Seungcheol was surprised by the sight; he'd not realised that his boyfriend was undressing behind him as he sorted out the shower, but he was hardly complaining. "You can join me if you want," he said quietly, allowing the slightest of smiles to brush over his face. Seungcheol paused for a moment to weigh up his different options. Either his boyfriend was telling him that he smelled bad after their night out and needed to have a shower, or he was thinking of something more fun between them. Showering together was _not_ so pure, especially when Jeonghan's tone was so suggestive. If he were to take him up on the offer, it would probably result in them making physical contact with each other's bare skin, which was another big step for them. Whilst they'd sort of seen each other without clothes beforehand, it had been quick and indirect, so this was moving their relationship in directions that they hadn't really sat down and spoken about.

In the end, he rushed back to his room to snatch up another towel, then promptly went through to the bathroom. The door was locked when they were both in there, Seungcheol's clothes were shed in three seconds flat, and then he moved to get into the shower with his boyfriend.

Jeonghan immediately stopped dampening his hair and turned to face him. He looked Seungcheol up and down before giving the most devious smirk that Seungcheol had ever seen on his face. The look was knowing and deliberate; he knew exactly what the implications of their shared shower were, and it was time for them to get straight onto the semi-serious talk that came alongside that. "I know we said that we were going to wait and all, but we've been together for a while and we've already confessed that we're in love with each other, so do you think it's best to take the next step whilst we're at it?" he asked, trying his hardest to make his voice sound as sweet and innocent as physically possible. His tone sent a shiver through Seungcheol's spine, and he couldn't help but move forward so that he could pull Jeonghan close to his body.

Perhaps they didn't really need to talk about it that much in reality. Perhaps they were right to start working towards that when they got back from the club the previous night. After all, they were starting to creep closer and closer to the year mark on their relationship with every passing day, and whilst there were still a few months left to wait until their anniversary, most couples would have already taken each other to bed by that point. Besides, if nothing else, it would end up annoying Chan more than anything. Seungcheol didn't even know if his son was still with them - he'd been making a special effort to leave them to their own devices lately without interfering too much - but he guessed that it would irritate him when he looked back on what they were doing in that time. Seungcheol would probably hear Chan yelling in his head as he tried to get to sleep later that night. He was irresponsible, Chan would tell him, and he should have cleared it first to ensure that he wasn't causing some hurricane or famine or whatever. Seungcheol would inform him that he wouldn't ask for his son's permission to have sex with his future husband - and his son's mother - and Chan would immediately shut up as he failed to find an appropriate response. Seungcheol knew the process well by that point.

So he went ahead. He kissed Jeonghan with the intention of taking it further, making sure to suck on his lower lip and push his tongue against his boyfriend's lips. He dared to slip his hands from Jeonghan's waist to his ass, giving a slow, deliberate squeeze as he cupped it with his hands, and he immediately felt his boyfriend let out a grumble against his lips in response.

It was probably a plan to be able to stay over for a while longer, he guessed, but it wasn't like he was bothered by it at all. They were finally making a full loop back towards the start of their relationship, filling in all of the gaps that had been left behind from their initial affair, and that was the way that he liked it.


	12. Chapter 12

"I don't recall you asking if you could take my mommy on a date."

Seungcheol had decided that he was going to be a lot kinder to Chan after he'd essentially caused more harm than good over the past few months. He'd found out that his son had been scolded by his teachers for allowing everything to go downhill, and that his failing grade was sent home for an older Seungcheol and Jeonghan to look over. Naturally, they hadn't been impressed in the slightest, since it seemed as if he wasn't putting in any effort whatsoever, and he'd ended up getting incredibly upset over it. _You've ruined everything,_ he'd said to Seungcheol when he got to the laboratory that afternoon, _I just want to work in technology in the future but I can't even get you and mommy together without ruining the entire world in the process. I'm useless._ Of course, Seungcheol had felt bad for his son, and had decided that he was going to do anything he could to be able to help him out with his project. If Chan said not to allow Jeonghan to sleep over at his house for the night, he wasn't going to let it happen. If Chan said that something bad was going to happen if they walked through a particular park together, he would refrain from walking that way. It was pretty much Chan's playing field from that point onwards. The last thing he wanted to do was leave the world in pieces because he didn't listen to the guidance that his son was giving him.

Yet, this was a little bit too far. It was the anniversary of Seungcheol and Jeonghan starting their relationship. They'd decided that they were going to go out for a dinner date together to celebrate well in advance; that was what Jeonghan wanted to do more than anything, and Seungcheol was hardly going to deny him that pleasure. He couldn't even force himself to tell Jeonghan that they couldn't go on a date. Not after everything that they'd been through. It would be the first time since the start of their relationship that they would have gone out for dinner together, too; the last time was just after the fling that they'd had shortly after meeting for the first time. That was something that he couldn't be convinced to drop; not when Jeonghan had already bought himself some new clothes to look pretty for his boyfriend whilst they were out together. There was absolutely no chance in hell that Chan would make him miss out on seeing Jeonghan looking so perfect for him. There was also no way he was going to make Jeonghan feel disappointed on their anniversary. In fact, it was the first time that either of them had managed to last for a year in a relationship, so it was a huge thing for them both as it was. Chan wasn't going to ruin it this time.

"Sorry, I promised to take Jeonghan out for a date and that's what I'm delivering tonight," he insisted, trying more than anything to make his inner voice's tone a lot firmer than usual to show that he wasn't messing around.  
"I thought you said that you were doing everything you could to make it up to me for making me fail last semester," his son pointed out, his voice taking on a hint of scorn in the process. It seemed as if all of his trust for his father had been dropped in three seconds flat. Chan quickly grew quiet and Seungcheol could tell that he was distancing himself a bit, in order to show how painfully upset he was feeling.  
"Look," Seungcheol started with a sigh, "I love your mommy. I love him more than anything in the world. I know it's going to be something to remember if I do end up cancelling on our date. And not in a good way. I don't think he'll ever forgive me because he's been going on about this restaurant for a long time."

"Well, he'll have to get over it," Chan said dryly, not even caring to elaborate. He knew that Seungcheol knew what he meant. It was probably going to be worse for the world overall if he didn't listen to what his son was saying. He knew the drill by that point; Chan couldn't give him every single detail because it would get him in even more trouble with his teachers and would risk starting a surprise butterfly effect somewhere else in the world, since he'd revealed the chance of the first one to his father. It was something that Seungcheol wasn't really supposed to know much about, according to the teachers in his end of semester report, so he needed to reduce the amount of specific information that he gave.  
"Is it big this time?" he asked as he tried to figure out whether it would be worth considering it. The chance of him honestly, genuinely caring was incredibly slim but he guessed that talking to Chan as if he had the intention of refraining from going on the date would at least calm his son's mind a bit. It had immediate effects, it seemed, as Seungcheol could sense his son relaxing in response to the question.

"Moderate. But not for the world. For you."

Now, _that_ had Seungcheol's interest. It just made the situation hard for him, where it had been relatively easy beforehand. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out whether he would genuinely want to go ahead with it still or whether playing it safe was the better option. After all, he was sure that Jeonghan would understand if he was to cancel the date for personal reasons. Especially if there was a risk that someone close to him would get hurt or he would suffer personally as a result of it.

Once it had been brought up, Seungcheol couldn't stop his mind from drifting around as he tried to figure out what the risk was for him. Surely it was something that he would be able to deal with in the long run, as he had Chan to help him out and it certainly wasn't going to be all that difficult to put his problems into perfective under those circumstances, but would it be worth seeing his boyfriend upset for a while as a result of them having to cancel. On top of that, what would he say to him? There was a _chance_ that someone close to him would get sick or injured? That there was a _chance_ that something would happen to either of them? That was when the worst thought drifted into his mind. Perhaps it was moderate for him because it was his _boyfriend_ getting injured. Perhaps if they went out on a date together, Jeonghan would end up suffering for some reason. That was something that he certainly couldn't risk, and he would absolutely cancel it right away if Chan told him that his boyfriend would end up hurt as a result of going out together.

"Please could you just tell me before I overthink this and start struggling with sleep - does it involve Jeonghan getting hurt?" he asked, "I'm sure that you can tell me because I was the one who came up with that idea. That's what you said when you came to talk to me a few weeks ago, wasn't it? I'm absolutely certain that you told me that." Chan simply gave a hum of acknowledgement, rather than a proper answer, before finally sighing.  
"Okay, it's not mommy getting hurt physically as such, but you both might not have a good time if this thing happens, okay? I don't know how to put it."  
"A bad time?" Seungcheol echoed, "There are so many things that could be included in the list of 'bad times'. The roof could cave in. There could be a hold up in the restaurant. We could be involved in a traffic accident and not get hurt, but might still have emotional issues to deal with." But Chan simply refused to say anything in response, instead opting to keep his lips tightly sealed. The last thing he wanted to do was give too much away and end up in more trouble over it.

And whilst Seungcheol completely respected that, it also infuriated him too. He didn't know whether it was safe to go against what Chan was advising him to do, and he didn't know whether he could emotionally handle the consequences. Surely it wasn't going to be too bad if neither of them were going to be physically hurt, but there was no way of telling for sure whether the issues that did arise would be worse than just bodily pains.

Ultimately, they did end up going on the date. Chan wasn't all that impressed when he found out that they were getting ready to go out and were planning to meet at the restaurant - in fact, he was livid and continued to try to convince Seungcheol to cancel whilst they were still apart - but in the end, they finally got to the restaurant.

The moment in which Seungcheol saw his boyfriend was quite possibly the best moment of his entire life. It was a scene that he'd never really imagined he'd ever get to see, but he was so so glad to be able to see Jeonghan like that. He was in well-fitted dress trousers, which Seungcheol certainly hadn't expected to see him in. The trousers clung tightly to his ass and thighs, but not enough to make them look tacky or too small. It simply gave his body the perfect shape. Seungcheol had to fight the urge to put his hands into Jeonghan's back pockets when he realised how soft and cute his ass looked in those trousers, and honestly the only thing that stopped him in the end was the fact that they were in public together. Had they been at home together, he would have certainly slipped his hands into the pockets to give his ass the firmest of gropes. For now though, he looked without touching. The trousers were paired with a pale blue shirt; one with a row of buttons at the front, the top two buttons left undone to show a hint of collarbone, and then the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The rolling was probably the best part, in Seungcheol's opinion. It made something that was already an incredibly attractive outfit into something painfully sexy. Had he been asked to do so, he would bend right over the table for his boyfriend without even thinking about the consequences.

But of course, Jeonghan wasn't going to ask him to do that. His lips twitched into a smirk as he caught his boyfriend looking at him with hunger in his eyes, and he immediately let his eyes flicker over what Seungcheol was wearing. It was nothing in comparison to what he had come along in, but it was still fitted perfectly to his figure in order to make all of his assets look that little bit more handsome. They promptly made their way over to their table without making a direct comment on how the other person looked - it was something that they could tell from the glances that they'd shared anyway - then sat face to face on either side of the table. For a moment, it was quiet between them. The waiter left them with the menus before whisking himself away to check on his other tables, and so it was just them for a while. Seungcheol was certain that his heart stopped whilst they were looking at each other in that way. He'd never really expected to fall in love with his boyfriend even more whilst they were sat there but he was glad that he could feel the warmth of developed love starting to blossom in the pit of his stomach.

Whilst he would have previously thought that sort of reaction to be weak, this was a completely different story. The changes in Seungcheol had only continued to develop as time went on. He knew that he was happy with Jeonghan - happy doing what they were doing at that moment and in general. He felt empowered, rather than weakened, by the vulnerabilities that came alongside romance and sharing his life with another person. It was a huge risk to show himself to Jeonghan how he did, but he was more than happy with the results that came alongside that. That was why he couldn't bring himself to do as Chan asked him this time around. He knew that love was a game of vulnerabilities and risks, and that everyone involved would have something that would leave them feeling sensitive about themselves. It was something that he didn't really want to make Jeonghan feel. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt him when he was so determined to continue enjoying everything that they had together.

As weird as it seemed, he felt as if it was already the right time to marry his boyfriend. If he'd told his past self that he would fall in love with a man and then want to marry him within a year of dating him, he would've laughed. But that was now the reality of the situation; Jeonghan was worth the risk that could potentially hit his confidence and ego hard. There was no reason to put on a front around him, and that was what Seungcheol loved the most. Jeonghan was the sort of person who was able to distract him from the menu when he was simply existing in front of his boyfriend. Seungcheol still didn't know what he did to deserve someone who was so amazing in his eyes, and how his boyfriend could've possibly fallen for him, given that there were so many other amazing people in the world who would be with him in a heartbeat.

When the server returned to their table to take their order, he ultimately had to hurry and pick something on the spot, as not to make it obvious that he had just been watching his boyfriend, rather than actually trying to find what he wanted to eat. By the time he'd given his answer, he found something else on the menu that he would have much rather eaten instead, but he wasn't prepared to correct his answer when he'd already wasted so much time up until that point. He knew that Jeonghan could tell, though, so it wouldn't have been that much of a knock on his confidence to have to change his order and confess that he hadn't been paying attention to the food whatsoever, but he still wasn't prepared to cause any issues in that sense. The server promptly left with the details of their order, and frankly it was a relief that they were alone again, since Jeonghan was barely holding back his amusement at how Seungcheol had slipped up so easily by staring at him way too much. The reached their hands out underneath the table to brush their fingertips together whilst they shared a delicate smile, and then the conversations started to pick up.

Rather, they picked up for around three or four minutes, if that. Seungcheol couldn't have possibly anticipated the butterfly effect that Chan had been suggesting until it actually happened, but then it moved so fast that he hardly had time to process it. Even before their food had come out, a guy of around their age wandered over to the table on his own. For a moment, Seungcheol was confused; he didn't know the guy and it was weird for a complete stranger to just wander over to their table like that. Yet, he immediately understood as soon as his boyfriend looked up at the guy and his expression promptly shifted from confusion to fondness in less than a second. "Oh, I didn't think I'd see you here," he said as he broke into a huge grin, "I thought you were going back to Busan or something. That's what Shua told me, anyway."

So the guy was probably one of Jeonghan's friends. It was no big deal to start with, until the conversation started to develop further. He'd quit the job that was going to take him to Busan. He wanted to know how Jeonghan had been, and whether he was getting on well. He actually wondered whether Jeonghan had changed his phone number, since he'd not received any replies to his texts for months. Jeonghan answered all of the questions and tried to be as polite as possible, but it soon got to the point where his glances between the guy and Seungcheol were starting to increase in frequency, as a way of hinting that he needed to go. He seemingly tried to say it, but then the guy pulled him straight back into another conversation. He was working for an engineering business now. As the manager, strangely. His sister had recently had a baby. A little boy named Jihoon. Seungcheol watched as his boyfriend's eyes melted at the name. It was one of the names that he'd picked out for his future son, actually. A really nice name that was quite traditional but had a modern flair. He was jealous, to say the least, because he didn't want to make it seem as if he was copying her by choosing the same name for his kid as she chose for hers.

Perhaps he was a relative, now that Seungcheol was thinking about it. That was the only explanation that he could think of for what Jeonghan had said to the guy. If they were related, there would be reason to avoid picking the same name for two children. It would just make things awkward if they were growing up together and neither child knew who was being addressed at any one time. Although he was still slightly on edge, Seungcheol could feel himself starting to relax now that he'd decided that that was definitely the case.

It was short-lived, however, when Jeonghan finally got the guy to go away and he made eye contact with his boyfriend once again. It took almost ten minutes and an exchange of phone numbers for them to get to that point, but Seungcheol figured that it was better than nothing. He offered up a warm smile in Jeonghan's direction, although the smile that was returned to him looked significantly more awkward than anything. He didn't really know what he could say - he looked as if he wanted to say something but was struggling for a way to express himself until Seungcheol finally asked him about the guy. "Ah, well he's..." Jeonghan started before catching himself. He sat there for a moment as he tried to find a way to word it so that it didn't come across as sounding too enthusiastic when he was taking about another guy, although eventually he just gave up and let out a long sigh. "Okay, he's my ex-boyfriend. But I just want you to know that I haven't seen him in a long time, I'm still good friends with his sister, and there's going to be absolutely nothing going on. I hope you trust me enough to know that nothing is going to happen and I probably won't even text him back."

Of course he trusted him, Seungcheol told his boyfriend. He was more than happy for them to be friends because he knew that Jeonghan would never cheat on him. Their relationship had a strong foundation and he knew right away that something as stupid as an ex wasn't going to cause any issues for them. Jeonghan let out a sigh of relief, as if he'd been expecting Seungcheol to flip at the thought of him still being friends with his ex-boyfriend, and then his smile returned to his face. It was radiant and sweet, like he'd just needed that bit of a reminder that it wasn't going to be as difficult to explain as he thought, and then their conversation from before the guy made his way over to their table promptly resumed.

"See, I told you that it was going to cause problems," Chan told Seungcheol. Whilst his voice would have probably come across as being smug in any other situation, he seemed more annoyed than anything this time. His tone was scornful again, as if he was irritated with his father again now that everything had worked out exactly how he said it would. "You know, you've ruined my project again. You've unleashed a load of different problems now because you wouldn't listen to me. I'm going to check this up right now, and whilst I can't tell you exactly what's going to happen, I want you to know that it's not good things. It's not good things at all. So you're going to have to make up for it by showing my mommy that you're the best person in the world and you love him a lot. You have to prove to him why you deserve to be in a relationship with him because it's going to get a lot more challenging now."

Whilst his son hadn't directly explained what he was going to be facing over the next few weeks or months, Seungcheol immediately felt his stomach lurch in response to what Chan was telling him. He hadn't really considered that their relationship would end up being threatened as a result of him not listening to his son's requests, and now he was faced with the reality that this guy was probably going to try his luck out with Jeonghan. Of course, there was no proof that anything was going to happen and he did still trust that his boyfriend was trustworthy enough to refrain from getting involved with the guy, he was still rather nervous about the different outcomes that could surface as a result of everything that went down in front of him. Heck, Jeonghan had never even introduced them. Perhaps the guy thought that they were friends, or maybe he'd expected that they were on their first date ever, rather than actually being in a relationship. He didn't even seem to notice Seungcheol all that much, actually. He didn't know whether it was an intentional attempt to block him out, whether it was to show that Seungcheol wasn't all that important, or whether it was a sign that he was still attracted to Jeonghan. Perhaps it was even all three. There was no way of telling for sure.

He'd essentially dug himself a hole and had to sit in it. It was far from being the ideal situation, but he guessed that it was his fault. Each time that he'd ignored his son's requests, it had always ended up causing issues for someone. It was only a matter of time before it directly affected him in that sort of way. He'd been naive enough to think that it wouldn't cause problems for him and he would be able to act carelessly with minimal moral conflicts as a result, but this was just going to show that he needed to listen to Chan more.

After that situation, he was going to make a point of listening to every single word so that he could avoid letting something like that happen again, or perhaps even something worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise if parts don't make sense because I'm absolutely exhausted today, but I hope that it's at least good enough to understand what's happening!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	13. Chapter 13

The feeling of dread set in properly for Seungcheol when he found out that Jeonghan was back in contact with his ex-boyfriend.

Of course, he trusted that Jeonghan wasn't the sort to cheat. That was aided, to an extent, by Chan hissing that he needed to learn to trust his mommy and that he wasn't going to have his dad acting as if his mommy was promiscuous or anything. They'd had a long, happy marriage up until that point and there had been no cheating from either of them whatsoever. Even though Seungcheol had always seemed like the one who would cheat, in Chan's opinion, he didn't do anything like that once he'd committed to Jeonghan. Chan had even made sure to ask them about it to make sure, and he was absolutely certain that they were being honest with him when they said that neither of them had had an affair. It was partially from Seungcheol's own perception of his boyfriend too, in which he was convinced that Jeonghan would never cheat anyone's trust, neither in a relationship sense nor any other way. It wasn't really in his disposition to be dishonest about that sort of thing.

Yet, there was something about it that didn't sit well with Seungcheol still. As much as he could trust Jeonghan to refrain from cheating, he didn't know whether he could trust Jeonghan's ex. There was something about the guy that really threw him off. He wasn't sure whether it was the fact that he'd completely disregarded him at the table when they were on their date, or whether it was the fact that he turned up at Jeonghan's university dorm completely uninvited so that they could "catch up" and "arrange some time to become friends again". He was insistent on messaging Jeonghan whenever they were together, and whilst Seungcheol tried his hardest to refrain from seeming paranoid and untrusting, he could feel his blood starting to boil every time he heard his boyfriend's phone vibrate with yet another message from the guy. He would check it straight away, gradually shifting from being excited to answer the messages to simply tossing his phone to the other side of the bed in a bid to ignore it as time went on. His ex was just happy to get to talk to him again, he said; the guy wasn't a threat but he was still a bit annoying with how much he messaged.

The enthusiasm to talk to him constantly was probably the worst part, in Seungcheol's opinion. There was only so much that Jeonghan could do to stop a guy from coming on to him if the guy was determined to get his own way. If he couldn't do so much as refrain from messaging for a few hours without constantly checking if Jeonghan was still there, he probably wasn't going to always accept "no" for an answer either. Jeonghan could move away if the guy tried to kiss him and he could stop the guy if he tried to get intimate with him, but there was both the chance that he would end up being kissed or touched by the guy when he didn't expect it to happen, and he could be quite easily put into a position where he couldn't safely reject the advances. After all, his ex-boyfriend was a lot different to what Seungcheol expected Jeonghan's type to be; he was rather large in build, quite muscular, and generally seemed to have a tough exterior, despite the fact that Jeonghan insisted on his sweet nature. He could quite easily overpower Jeonghan if he wanted to, and that was what bothered Seungcheol the most. Whilst cheating was bad, in his opinion, his boyfriend being forced to do something that he didn't want to do was significantly worse.

"You're dwelling on it a lot," Chan pointed out one evening, "You know, you did this to yourself. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I warned you that you shouldn't go on the date but you had to go still. I'm sure my mommy wouldn't have minded if you asked to reschedule but you knew best, as always." Seungcheol didn't really want to hear the "told you so" remarks that his son was making, but it was mostly because he knew that he was right. There had been so many little incidents up until that point which had caused a variety of problems both for himself and for other people. He'd had to sort a good few of them out on his own, and then there was a selection that he'd been unable to do anything to help. He'd messed up on a number of occasions and affected other people's lives in negative ways as a result, but it was always the ones that directly affected him that bit him on the ass the most. It was often the sorts of things that he wasn't able to fix at all, and that was arguably more annoying than having to deal with the butterfly effects that didn't even cause issues for him personally.

In this case, for example, there was nothing that he could do to stop anything that Jeonghan's ex-boyfriend would want to do with him. Chan made sure to make that very clear to him. If he was to get controlling and try to stop Jeonghan from seeing the guy, they would end up having a huge argument that would break them up. If he tried to be there at all times so that the guy would know he was watching, they would start sneaking around behind his back, which would also lead to a huge argument. If he tried to make things difficult or challenged his boyfriend, Jeonghan would walk out of his life for good. Jeonghan was the sort of person who was very head-strong and knew what he was willing to tolerate in a relationship. If he thought that any of his romantic partners were too jealous, controlling, aggressive or mean, he wouldn't hesitate to drop them. He'd done it in the past, Chan told him, and he wouldn't be afraid to do it again. He didn't know that they were meant to get married in the future and raise a litter of children together, and as long as Seungcheol wasn't able to reveal that bit of information to him, there would be nothing to stop Jeonghan from leaving him if he wasn't happy with their relationship.

Saying that, though, he was mostly fair. He tried his best to give his partners the benefit of the doubt and talked things out with them before making any major decisions. That was something that he highlighted to Seungcheol at the start of their relationship, and it was something that he trusted he would continue with under any circumstances. If he thought that he wasn't attracted to them anymore, he would discuss why he thought that was before they had the chance to terminate their relationship, so that they would be able to fix it if possible. If he was aware of a lot of conflict between them, he would try to talk it out and find out why it was happening in hopes that they would be able to put their differences aside. Of course, he still had those few things that he wouldn't tolerate whatsoever, but he was generally willing to sort out problems in relationships. It gave Seungcheol a bit of hope in the end, since he guessed that at least if Jeonghan did think that he was falling in love with someone else, he would end up chatting with him about it first and seeing if he really wanted to make that decision, and hopefully it would mean that Seungcheol would have the chance to sway his thoughts before they ended up losing everything that they'd built up until that point.

Whilst it wasn't the worst possible butterfly effect that could've come as a result of Seungcheol ignoring his son again, it wasn't exactly the best one either. It was just a mild but consistent irritant in his life, which he knew would eventually pass as time went on. Either Jeonghan would stop talking to the guy or Seungcheol would be able to tolerate the guy a lot more. As time went on, he managed to ignore the notification buzzes a lot easier, and he couldn't even feel that twitch of irritation in his stomach whenever the guy's name came up in conversation. As much as he was still nervous about Jeonghan and his ex, he felt a lot more positive about the situation on the whole as things began to unfold more. Jeonghan was particularly open about the situation, making sure to tell him everything that they'd chatted about to ease his mind. It came without Seungcheol even asking to know what they had been talking about, which was an added bonus, and it was always about things that friends would typically chat about.

Or rather, it started out like that.

After around two or three months of Jeonghan splitting himself between his romantic relationship with Seungcheol and his friendship with his ex-boyfriend, he suddenly withdrew for a few days. It had come without any warning whatsoever, which instantly threw Seungcheol off as he began to expect the worst. He'd never really thought that his boyfriend would distance himself when everything was going well, so it had come as both a surprise and a disappointment. Of course, he knew that it would have something to do with his ex right away. 

Perhaps Jeonghan had decided that his ex was actually worth his time and was a lot more caring and compassionate, in comparison to Seungcheol. Although they had been dating for some time by that point, Seungcheol guessed that there was always something exciting about rekindling an old flame, and so there was always the possibility that he would end up having to fight for his chance to be with Jeonghan still. It was only fueled further by the fact that his son was acting so worried, but didn't give any additional information out about the situation. He made sure to give a bit of guidance here and there - suggesting that Seungcheol not go out on particular days, or telling him to turn his phone volume up high, just in case he received a phone call - but never actually told him what the issue was.

The more he thought about it in the withdrawal period, the more he felt as if Jeonghan could be genuinely considering his ex as an option. After all, the guy unfortunately had quite a lot going for him. He was a few years older than them both and was financially independent, for starters. He was a manager of a company, he had his own place, and he was generally quite a mature person, other than the fact that he needed Jeonghan's approval constantly. It was something that Seungcheol figured would be appealing to Jeonghan. As much as he hoped that the butterfly effect wouldn't cause something so huge to happen to their relationship - seeing as Chan hadn't mentioned anything specific about it and all of his advice had suggested passively making himself available in case Jeonghan wanted to talk with him - he guessed that there was always a chance that it would be something potentially life-changing.

It ended up taking a few days for him to find out, in the end, although frankly he wished he'd never known about the situation. The phone call that he eventually received from Jeonghan asked if he could visit urgently. As much as he tried to sound calm and collected, his tone was showing as much worry as Chan's had been. Seungcheol was worried about the nature of the visit, although his boyfriend was quick to insist that it wasn't suitable to discuss that topic on the phone. Seungcheol ended up skipping his afternoon classes so that his boyfriend could visit him, guessing that it was something that wouldn't be able to wait until that evening.

Jeonghan was unusually quiet when he arrived at Seungcheol's house to start with. Once he sat on his boyfriend's bed, his eyes were on the floor and his hands in his lap. He seemed painfully guilty, and Seungcheol knew right away that it was foreshadowing for everything that he was going to say. He knew exactly what to expect, and his heart was already starting to sink down into his stomach as he watched his boyfriend fiddling with his fingertips as he avoided making eye contact.

And then Jeonghan looked up. He suddenly forced eye contact, making sure that Seungcheol was holding his gaze firmly, then let out a long breath. "He kissed me a few days ago. I didn't have the guts to tell you because I thought that you'd break up with me on the spot," he said with a strange sense of confidence coming through in his voice. It was clear that he didn't know whether he was actually supposed to be feeling confident about discussing that sort of thing and that he was actually nervous about Seungcheol's reaction despite everything, but Seungcheol guessed that it was something admirable about Jeonghan. To start with, he didn't really know what to say. He sat there for a moment in complete and utter silence, but then his boyfriend suddenly began to jump to conclusions about why he wasn't saying anything, and quickly started again with an explanation. "I swear, I didn't want him to kiss me. Please trust me with this, Seungcheol; I pushed him away right away and asked him to leave, but I don't want to make the decisions for you by deciding that I'm innocent and that we can make this work."

His tone showed off more desperation than anything this time. The confidence had drained away from his voice in an instant when he realised that what he said was probably going to be interpreted as a threat to their future as a couple, and he immediately began to panic. Seungcheol had never seen the usually calm Jeonghan getting so flustered; even when he was angry or upset about something, he tried to keep his cool as best as possible. In this case, though, he seemed to be genuinely concerned that he would be labelled as a cheat and that would be the end of everything between them. If anything, though, it showed Seungcheol that he was being completely serious about it. He could tell that his boyfriend hadn't intended on anything happening and was genuinely upset that what had happened could be interpreted as a cheat of his trust. In any other case, Seungcheol would have probably cut a relationship off, but the sheer hurt and upset on his boyfriend's face was telling him that Jeonghan was the sort of person who he should treasure; someone who was honest and genuine.

As much as it would've been easy enough for him to act as if he was disappointed before springing out a sudden plot twist on Jeonghan, it was decidedly cruel to pull that sort of stunt on him. After all, it was just a relief that Jeonghan wasn't going to break up with him in favour of dating his ex again. Seungcheol made sure to tell him right away that he appreciated the honesty before insisting that he wasn't prepared to cut off their relationship over that, although he trusted that his boyfriend had made it clear to his ex that there was going to be nothing between them. That was the only catch; if he hadn't made it obvious to the guy and had instead suggested that he wasn't ready to take that sort of step, he didn't know whether he would be comfortable in allowing his boyfriend to continue seeing the guy without some sort of intervention put in place. It felt horrible to say it, but he was more than happy to put his foot down and tell Jeonghan that he wanted the guy out of his life if it was something that would stop further threats to their relationship.

Of course, Jeonghan was quick to tell him that he'd cut off the relationship with his ex right away. If he was going to disrespect his boundaries, even after he'd pointed out that he was dating Seungcheol on a number of occasions, then he wasn't worth having as a friend. There was no point in putting himself through the constant stress of monitoring himself because some guy seemed to think that he'd led him on and wanted to sleep with him. It had been humiliating and uncomfortable, and Jeonghan wasn't willing to risk that sort of thing again. He gave a warm smile as he confessed that he was happy that Seungcheol had given him support and trust when he arrived, since it had washed all of his fears away in an instant, and it was something that had really made a huge difference to the situation. What had once been stressful for him to have to deal with had quickly been diffused by Seungcheol's caring nature, he said.

Seungcheol was proud of himself too. He was rather notorious for trying to find any excuse to cut off relationships in the past, so actually finding a reason to stay in one was a big milestone for him. It had surpassed the expectations too; this was more about him staying with someone who he genuinely loved and respected, rather than trying to salvage the relationship because his son had told him that he needed to. It was the biggest sign that he was maturing and was going to be able to make this relationship last. As much as he'd started out feeling reluctant, after his son had essentially informed him that he was entering the final relationship of his life when he was still in his early twenties, he was absolutely relieved that he'd found someone worth spending his life with so early on. It was something that was going to provide him with security and unconditional love in the future, he guessed, and that was a good sort of support to have right from his youth.

"There is one more thing, actually," Jeonghan added, bringing Seungcheol straight out of his cheerful thoughts again. He hadn't noticed his boyfriend's expression turning back towards a frown, with discomfort starting to come through in his eyes again. "Sorry, it was something that I'd completely forgotten about until I started to think about it. He told me that he could provide me with a future, and I think that's why he went ahead with it. You know, he seemed to think that I would drop everything and marry him on the spot, and that we would just run away and start a family together or something. And I know that we're still young and marriage is off the table for you and I personally, but it did have me thinking a bit about everything between us. Does that make sense?" So perhaps Seungcheol did still have some competition. His bubbly, loved-up mood dropped instantly as he stared at his boyfriend expectantly for a moment, and then he simply nodded dumbly.

"Is there anything that I can do for you that would put me a step up from what he's trying to offer you?" he asked hopefully, watching as his boyfriend thought it over for a moment. It was a bit of a disappointment to hear that Jeonghan wasn't as enthusiastic about an early marriage as he had been, right from the point where they had their anniversary date, but he guessed that whatever answer came would be a suitable answer nonetheless.  
"I know this is going to sound completely random and out of the blue, but do you think that perhaps we could move in together for our final year of university? I mean, we've been in a relationship for a year already and we already spend most of our evenings together. And I'm a bit sick of living in the dorms. They're not really the best place for me, I don't think. If we were to get somewhere between our universities, I think it would be easy enough for both of us and it would probably be cheap enough if I got a proper job. I don't think it's going to be any harder than it is for us now-"

He continued to think about it, making all of his thoughts heard as he did so. As much as it was something that Seungcheol hadn't really been considering up until that point, he guessed that it was actually a good way forward. After all, they would end up saving time on commuting to and from each other's houses, they would be able to test what it would be like for them when they finally did get married, and it would essentially be the foundation block on which they would be able to build their family. Plus it would give them the chance to iron out any bad habits that were about so that when they did start to think about adopting their children, they would have a healthier, happier relationship for the children to grow up around. It was something that he quickly figured was actually the best option for them. "Maybe we can move in a bit quicker," he pointed out when there was a natural break in Jeonghan's speech, "I think that we can probably start house hunting together next week or something, and then we can finally get in together soon. There's no point in waiting until we're almost another year into our lives before we move in."

He watched as his boyfriend's entire face lit up with excitement, and then made sure to add that they could even spend some time doing domestic things, such as buying towels together and searching for matching furniture that they would stick in their ideal house. Whilst they probably wouldn't be able to buy half of the things that they would like, it would be a great bonding exercise for them to be able to work with, so that when they actually managed to get their own place together in the future, they would know exactly what sort of compromises they were both willing to make on their ideal home.

They ended up spending the rest of their time together researching different houses and arranging a few visits to some properties nearby. It was easy enough to get it all arranged but they knew right away that it was going to be a completely different story to actually move in together in the end. It was a huge step, for starters, and then it was probably going to be a lot of stress too. Seungcheol also had the added bonus of Chan's inevitable reaction to it when he found out, which would be annoying to say the least. The last thing he needed was for their son to be giving him reasons to refrain from getting a place with his future husband. That was one of the main reasons why he wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible, so that they wouldn't be able to back out even if Chan said that it was going to cause problems for a number of different people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been struggling to write lately, so I'm sorry if this one is a bit weak. It's gradually working towards the ending, though, so hopefully it's not all too bad!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	14. Chapter 14

Chan had been somewhat reluctant when Seungcheol asked for permission to have sex with Jeonghan upon getting their new apartment together.

It had been something that he wanted them to put off as much as possible, at least until he'd finished his project write up. He knew that they would have to do it at some point, as part of their relationship development, but it was something that he didn't particularly want to see. He'd already had to write a breakdown and interpretation of the last time they slept together, which was ultimately presented to his entire class, and he had loathed every minute of it. The entire time was spent grumbling to Seungcheol about how ridiculous it was that he was having to show his class what his mommy looked like sprawled out on his university bed, getting his ass absolutely destroyed. The last thing he wanted to do was see that sort of thing again, and there was always a chance that he would have to include this time in his presentation too.

Yet, he reluctantly added that he'd spoken to future Jeonghan about it all and although they weren't supposed to get their first place together until they'd finished university, there was still some sort of agreement between him and Seungcheol - an unconscious but mutual agreement - that their first house would be blessed as soon as they had their belongings unpacked. It was something that they'd both expected, really, and it was just the perfect opportunity to sleep together without having to worry about asking for guidelines first. It was essentially written in the _rules_ for a couple getting their first place together, and they weren't really going to go against what was expected of them in that situation. Of course, Chan had still tried to convince them not to do it, but he did have to confess that there wasn't going to be any negative butterfly effect kicking off as a result of it. As much as he hated the thought of it happening before his eyes, he knew that he couldn't lie about that sort of thing. In turn, it would probably lead to worse problems when they finally did get to that point in their relationship, and it would likely cause some tension between his parents in the process.

And so Seungcheol proudly got on with it.

He was feeling particularly good about himself when they got to the room and moved their belongings to the main room. Thankfully, most of the furniture was already set up; it was a partially furnished apartment, which was perfect for young students with minimal income. As much as it seemed as if it would be grotty to sit on a sofa that had probably seen its fair share of dirt in its time - everything from spilled food to dirty feet - Jeonghan was quick to sort the issue of unclean seats and beds with various different throws that he'd brought along with him. If nothing else, it brightened the room up a bit. The cream knits were a huge change from the dusty pink fabric seats, and they had the power to make the furniture look a lot more homely and warm. He was proud of himself when he stepped back and realised that a little touch went a long way, and then promptly threw himself down onto the sofa so that he could enjoy the embrace of the overly soft cushions for the first time.

Yet, it was relatively short-lived when Seungcheol sat down next to him. Suddenly the domestic warmth that had started to grow as a result of getting their first place together - that came as a result of their adult decisions and ability to have responsibilities, despite their spontaneity - began to trickle away until they both knew exactly where it was going. "Every room of the house?" Jeonghan quietly asked as he shuffled towards his boyfriend. Seungcheol couldn't help but break into a grin. He didn't dignify the question with a direct answer, but instead wrapped his arm around Jeonghan's waist and pulled him as close as possible. He crushed their lips together in a firm, demanding kiss as he pulled Jeonghan straight onto his lap, and the younger boy's fingers were on the buttons of his shirt in under a second.

When they touched, Seungcheol instantly felt a strange sense of freedom, as if his worries had completely melted away as soon as he felt Jeonghan's fingertips brushing over his bare skin. They smiled at each other, both knowing exactly what was going to happen, and then their lips simultaneously twitched into smirks as they realised that they were taking their relationship to the next level without a single care about it.

For the first proper time since they started dating, their kisses mingled with desperation and desire; something that they'd tried hard to avoid up until that point. Seungcheol's hands were almost mechanical as they slipped around to press to Jeonghan's ass, and in an instant he'd moved from a sitting to a kneeling position so that their chests were pressed firmly together. Seungcheol wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend so that he could move them both to lie flat against the throw, and then his shirt was shrugged off his shoulders, allowing Jeonghan to see the shape of his chest in a completely new context.

From the way his breath caught, Seungcheol was certain that he would end up taking him gently with clasped hands and shared breaths. It seemed too innocent for what he'd intended. Yet, Jeonghan was surprisingly the first to make the move that would propel them forward.

He flipped Seungcheol back again with little effort at all, so that the elder boy was sprawled out on his back with his boyfriend sat on his hips. He began to rock himself back and forth slightly, just to stir up the beginnings of his arousal and show that he knew what he wanted. And it worked wonders. Seungcheol was at full attention within seconds, having never really anticipated that his boyfriend would be the one to lead. It was painfully attractive to see him sat there above him with one hand on the back of the sofa and the other on Seungcheol's stomach. He looked as if he knew what he was doing; as if he was already skilled in what they were doing and simply wanted to make him aware of the fact that he wasn't going to stand for anything with half-effort or laziness. It didn't take long for him to direct his full attention to the front of Seungcheol's trousers, and shortly after he'd shifted his position so that he was knelt on the carpet with Seungcheol's length in his mouth.

That was essentially the foundation for everything that was due to follow. It set the scene perfectly; the desperation that came alongside Seungcheol's first time delving past Jeonghan's lips was perfectly mirrored when he had his boyfriend pressed against the sofa, with him between his thighs. It was mirrored by the rough screwing on the kitchen counter, despite the fact that Jeonghan had whined about it being filthy to have sex where they were going to prepare food. It set the scene for the rough, primal sex on their new bed, in which Seungcheol completely let loose, reminding his boyfriend of their first time together back before they were officially in a relationship. It mimicked that time as much as possible, with both boys clawing and grabbing; hair was tugged, bodies were scratched up by nails, and they were both left in sweating, heaving messes by the time they finished. Then it was followed up by one more round in the shower. Seungcheol hadn't been shy about using his mouth on his boyfriend whilst they were cleaning up, just to show him that as much as he did enjoy being rough with him, he also liked to have the opportunity to treat him with love too.

Ultimately, it was the best experience of Seungcheol's life. He hadn't really expected that he would end up taking Jeonghan in that way, but he couldn't even begin to describe how much he enjoyed it. He could feel a smug smirk starting to play on his lips when they left the house in order to get groceries that afternoon and saw the mix of horror and surprise on their neighbours' faces upon seeing how young they were. Presumably they had heard what Seungcheol and Jeonghan had been doing - after all, Jeonghan wasn't exactly the quietest person in the bedroom and he wasn't hesitant to make himself heard when he was enjoying something - and so they might've expected graduates or even a couple who had hit the point in their relationship where they wanted to start a family. Instead, they were faced with the sight of two early twenty-something-year-old boys, who certainly weren't ready to have children just yet and weren't shy in the slightest about letting their sexuality fly free from the constraints of what was still expected from their society.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Chan grumbled flatly that evening when they had the chance to relax. Jeonghan was exhausted by the move, so he didn't particularly want to do much, and so Seungcheol just held him in his arms as they watched a television show together.  
"I actually did, thank you," Seungcheol informed him, trying his hardest not to let his smugness show again. "I forgot how great it was to be inside Jeonghan. He's so tight and warm, you know; I love the way he squeezes around my d--"  
 _"Dad, stop it,"_ Chan whined. Seungcheol couldn't help but smile as he heard how disgusted his son seemed.

"I'm just coming in to tell you about a big problem that we might have, but I'm going to give you all of the details because I don't think you're going to listen to me if I don't tell you everything," he continued before his dad had the chance to continue with the vulgar talk. Seungcheol gave a hum to encourage him to continue, although he frankly wasn't all too interested in it for the moment. "Mommy is gonna ask you for sex when you get home from your classes next Thursday. I need you to reject him and tell him that you're too tired, but offer to suck him instead."  
"It seems an awful lot like you're just trying to get me to pleasure him," Seungcheol pointed out, although he was immediately scolded for interrupting.  
"If you sleep with him, he'll end up slipping a disk in his back. If you reject him completely, he'll use a toy and slip the disk."

Okay, perhaps it was sort of a big deal. Seungcheol gave a grumble of disapproval, although he still agreed without arguing. As much as he wasn't fond of the idea of rejecting his future husband, he wasn't prepared to risk his health for something that could wait. It was something that wasn't really worth it. There was a moment of silence between them as Seungcheol wallowed in his disappointment and Chan seemed to let all of his concerns wash away with the confirmation of concern for Jeonghan's health, and then Chan finally cleared his throat.

"I know we don't really talk too much out of the project, but I wondered if maybe you would like to spend a bit of time getting to know each other? Obviously I've learnt a lot of stuff from just watching you, but I feel as if I don't really know you that much, and obviously when you're older, you're not going to discuss that sort of stuff with me because we're going to have a parent-child relationship, rather than a peer one."

As weird as the suggestion sounded, Seungcheol didn't really see any issue with it. "Go for it," he told his son, not really wanting to start it all out. Chan gave a little hum of acknowledgement but stayed quiet for a moment before coming out with his question.  
"Be completely honest with me. You don't really want eleven kids, do you?" Seungcheol felt a shiver run up his spine and he let out a mental sigh.  
"No. And something tells me that you don't like being the youngest of eleven kids."

Likewise, Chan paused again. "I, uh," he started before letting out a huff of defeat, "Okay, I wouldn't mind all that much but mommy still treats me like a baby, even though I'm in university. Don't get me wrong, I love him a lot, but it's hard to get a girlfriend when your mommy still insists on calling you his baby boy constantly."  
"You're straight? Are your brothers all straight too?"  
 _"It's not your turn yet,"_ Chan hissed, then quickly composed himself again so that he could continue with his question. "Do you get on with your cousins?" Seungcheol didn't really know how to answer the question. He could feel his face twisting as he attempted to put his feelings into words, and was thankful that his boyfriend didn't see it. It was the last thing he wanted to have to explain, especially when he wasn't really thinking about how he could possibly make it seem as if he wasn't just being weird.

"We don't... we don't dislike each other, but we don't really get on massively either. You saw what happened when we Jeonghan mentioned the fact that we're in a relationship and one of them got my parents involved. Sometimes it's innocent in that sort of way, in which they want to save your dignity, but sometimes they'll be malicious." Seungcheol wasn't all that fond of revealing that sort of information, but he figured that if his son was asking about it, he probably suspected that something was wrong. "I don't think I would tell you this in the future but there was an incident when I was thirteen where one of my cousins told your grandma that I made him uncomfortable by discussing my sex life with him. In reality, he'd taken my phone whilst I was in the bathroom and found out that I'd slept with my girlfriend at the time. He just wanted to get me in trouble, basically."

Chan's apology came quietly, as if he didn't really know whether to say anything or not. He seemed like he regretted asking the question but was also glad to have a genuine answer, rather than a one-word response again. "So are you and your brothers all straight?" Seungcheol repeated once he'd decided that the air between them was getting awkward.  
"There's a mix. And a lot of us haven't really specified too solidly, if that makes sense. Like Seungkwan had a girlfriend a few years ago but now he said he's only into guys. And Seokmin seems to be half and half; he's dating a girl right now but he's been with guys. But Hansol and I are primarily into girls, and Mingyu and Jisoo are both into guys primarily."

"Jisoo?" Seungcheol echoed, "As in, Jeonghan's best friend Jisoo?" Despite the fact that he'd spoken out of turn, Chan gave a sigh and answered the question.  
"Actually, it's a funny story. So mommy's sister got pregnant and didn't know who the father was, and she didn't really want to get rid of the baby but she couldn't afford to keep him either. So you and mommy took him in instead but Uncle Shua kept begging mommy to name the baby after him, so he did. It's awkward, though, because he looks a bit like him and I'm about ninety percent sure that he's Jisoo's dad or something, but Auntie swears he's not." It sounded absolutely ridiculous but Seungcheol made sure to keep it in mind so that he could quiz them on it in the future.

"So," Chan started again, his voice getting quieter, "Do you want to know why I'm really here?" That one threw Seungcheol off completely. He hadn't really expected that he would be getting that information out of his son in a simple question and answer session, but he warily agreed regardless. Chan said it so confidently that he didn't think he really had a choice. "It was offered as a module for extra credit and our family life is going downhill, so I figured that I could fix things out whilst working towards my degree. You and mommy are getting a divorce and my project was to make you realise how much you love each other. Because once you get to the end of my university degree and I move on to work in auditory engineering, our timelines will merge and whatever you've said and done with each other during my period of tampering will replace the arguments and anger and pain in your relationship. I know you both love each other but you're also both very stubborn and that's why you ordered the papers."

As if the initial confusion hadn't been enough, Seungcheol could feel his eyebrows starting to furrow in response to his son's words. It had all hit so suddenly, as if he'd planned their interaction out in order to allow him to make the confession, yet the way he said it sounded completely _unplanned_. "I thought you said that we were still happily married in your current timeline," he pointed out, "And I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to tell me about those things that I'm not supposed to know for a long time." From the slight sniffling and the wobble of his son's voice, he could tell that he was crying. It wasn't something that he was going to address, out of fear that he would embarrass him, but it was also going to be a huge struggle to ignore it. His son told him how he couldn't put it off any longer; how he'd been wanting to tell him that he made a mistake for the longest time but he'd been too awkward to confess it. He'd caught Seungcheol's secretary kissing him, not realising that his dad rejected her advances and pointed out that he was happily married. He'd been angry with his dad at the time and so went to Jeonghan to tell him that he was having an affair.

He'd expected a big argument, but then for it to calm down soon after. They'd instead been faced with arguments for weeks. All of Chan's brothers blamed him for breaking them up, since he knew full well that their mom hated cheating and wouldn't be able to handle the situation whether it turned out it was false or not. Which had turned out to be true, as Seungcheol had tried his hardest to prove that he wasn't having an affair, only for his husband to file for divorce papers. That was why he took the module, in hopes that his dad's fiery teenage attitude would get them to fall in love again. They met a year before they were supposed to have met, which already changed their personal history. _Of course_ they were going to have sex early on in their relationship, kiss within a few months of dating, and generally progress through their relationship milestones quicker.

So he'd tried to slow them down. He would give them more time to develop their relationship but would drag it out so that they would be able to work on their relationship more. Even if he and his brothers didn't end up existing, Chan was willing to take the risk in order to fix the mistakes that he'd made. He tried his hardest to plan it out as best as possible in order to avoid any major differences in their future timeline, but it was something that was inevitably going to alter in ways. "I don't even know if Jisoo exists in this timeline," he confessed at the end of his rant. "You know, some of the people you've met over the past few months didn't even exist until I altered the timelines a bit. I'm scared that I've destroyed everything all over again, but in a way that's even worse this time."

Seungcheol didn't know what to say. It was way too much to take in at once; information that he hadn't even been prepared to hear as it was. He sat staring at the side of his boyfriend's face for a moment, feeling the numbness start to wash over his body. He'd never really expected that he would end up so emotionally invested in a person, only to find out that there was a risk that they would divorce in the future. A niggling part of him wanted nothing more than to run before he was faced with the heartbreak that would hit him in thirty or so years. Another part wanted to make the most of every moment with Jeonghan, just in case they did end up divorcing in the future. Of course, the only reasonable response would be to take up the second option, but that option was the one that scared him the most.

"Jeonghan," he said softly as he adjusted himself to sit up more. "Could you come over here for a moment?" His voice was quiet - soft - as he called him over and watched how Jeonghan stared at him in confusion for a moment before moving closer. And so he kissed him. Seungcheol kissed him firmly but lovingly, hoping more than anything that Chan would be able to see how much they loved each other. He held him there for a moment before allowing his boyfriend to move back, taking note of the fact that the apples of Jeonghan's cheeks were instantly glowing from the moment they moved away from each other.  
"What was that for?" he asked, although it was clear that he wasn't complaining at all.

Then it came spilling out. His thoughts were hardly coherent, and they must've sounded completely out of place without hearing the context chat Chan provided him with, but Seungcheol wasn't exactly prepared to hold it back anymore to save the feelings of anxiety that had been building since their anniversary meal. "I know this sounds ridiculous, especially after our conversation last week about how we don't want to make things move too fast, but I've decided that our time together is always going to be too short, whether we have one hundred seconds left together, or we have one hundred years in each other's arms--" Jeonghan gazed intently at him the entire time, making sure to keep up with everything that he was saying with an attention that Seungcheol was hardly expecting. His boyfriend was completely focused on him, not even doing so much to hum to demonstrate agreement.

"I think what I'm asking is whether you want to get married," he told him, "I know it's not the most romantic proposal but you know, most couples nowadays are turning their engagement into mutual decisions and I never really expected that you would be the sort of person who would want a big public proposal."

The silence that followed left his heart thudding hard in his chest. Even Chan was completely silent, not really knowing what to say about the whole situation. It was clear that he had mixed feelings about the situation - that he wanted them to marry but also knew that it would probably open a whole new can of worms in the process. Seungcheol could feel his palms starting to sweat with anxiety and tried to subtly wipe them try on the sofa throw, but it had turned out to be a mistake as the loose woollen strands simply stuck to his clammy palms. It was the perfect mirror for his feelings at that point in time.

"Could I have a few days to think about it?" Jeonghan asked as he reached out to touch his boyfriend's face. His fingers were gentle and loving, and it took Seungcheol's nerves down a notch, despite the reluctance in his words. "I'd rather take my time to weigh it up so that I'm completely on board before I make such a permanent decision." It sounded fair enough, and so Seungcheol told him to take as much time as he needed. It wasn't something that needed to be rushed, and he was more than happy to take it slow so that they were both happy with the outcome. And that was that. It wasn't the proposal that Seungcheol was expecting, and he'd certainly not been planning for it to happen like that, but he was happy that it was something with minimal stress and mutual decisions. It was something that was supposed to show the love between them, and he was sure that it did just that.

"Thank you," Chan whispered once they were back to doing their own thing again. "I swear if the butterfly effect that comes from this is bad, I won't get angry at you again. I'm just thankful that you love him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a little hard to write because there were a number of aspects to include, alongside that thing where upset people sometimes try to act as if they're gradually easing into telling people about their feelings, but I think it's worked out relatively okay??
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	15. Chapter 15

Chan was back to his usual, slightly bratty self within a week. As much as Seungcheol liked to pretend that he disliked that side of his son, he was frankly relieved that everything was going back to normal.

It was strange; he'd never really seen that sort of emotion from Chan during their time together - and they had been communicating for over a year so there was plenty of time for that to come to the surface - but it strangely brought them closer. Of course, it was only going to last for a limited amount of time, though, because he wasn't really the sort to put his emotions out there so openly. It was his attempt at being an adult, Seungcheol figured. He tried to put on a front to make himself look a lot more mature and grown-up to hide the fact that he was feeling fragile and broken inside. It was a defense mechanism of sorts - his attempt at pretending that he knew what he was doing. The reality of the matter was that he was a scared child who made a mistake and ended up blaming himself for the adult conflict that began to take over his world. That gradually became more and more apparent as Seungcheol thought about it. As a result, it came as a huge relief when his son started to cause scenes again, especially when it came to the proposal again.

Jeonghan was rather slow to think of how he wanted to approach marriage and it was excruciatingly painful for Seungcheol to handle. Whilst he did want to give his boyfriend some space to think the situation through, he also wanted the answer as soon as possible. The last place he wanted to be was in the awkward limbo where he didn't know whether his proposal would be accepted or rejected. Dragging that out for longer than necessary would be the worst situation, as far as he was concerned, since it would hint towards some reluctance from Jeonghan. That reluctance could ultimately be part of why they were going to divorce in the future. It was a sign that Jeonghan wasn't quite as committed; that he might be considering it in the future but he was feeling pressure to give a solid answer too soon when Seungcheol mentioned it. Not all relationships lasted after a rejected proposal, after all, and the last thing their kids needed was to know that their parents were going to break up before they even made it to the point of marriage.

After around a week, however, Jeonghan started to look as if he wanted to talk about it again. His body language was showing Seungcheol a mix of comfort and discomfort; he clearly wanted to discuss _something_ but he was presenting his desire to do so in an awkward non-verbal way, in which it was left to Seungcheol to try to unpack his thoughts and feelings without pushing it too much. It wasn't exactly his favourite approach to figuring things out in their relationship but he guessed at least Jeonghan wasn't refraining from showing him any signs that he wanted to discuss it altogether.

In the end, he asked straight out and simply hoped that Jeonghan would have the confidence to give his reply. "Did you think about the idea of us getting married?" he asked coolly, as if he didn't notice the parading around the house. Jeonghan simply gave a little nod without answering out loud. "And what do you think about the idea, then? Do you want to go ahead with it or do you think we should wait for a while because I'm more than happy to go along with whatever you think is best." He made sure to add a smile to the last part, in hopes that it would show Jeonghan that he was genuine with his answer. There was no pressure to accept, as much as he longed for Jeonghan to want to go ahead with a wedding as soon as possible.  
"Well," Jeonghan started, his voice cracking slightly right away. He paused to clear his throat and gave an awkward laugh to ease his own nerves, Seungcheol noticed. "I was thinking that actually, it would be a really nice idea. I mean, we already have a house together and we've been together for over a year, and I know that that seems like it's a short amount of time but I think that it's suitable in our case. I think you know your soulmate when you meet them, and I definitely think that that's the case for us."

As much as he'd been anticipating that sort of response, he was absolutely thrilled to hear Jeonghan's answer still. Seungcheol could feel the bubbles of excitement starting to rise up into his chest, where they promptly popped and left him with an overwhelming warmth that he could've never imagined up until that point. He leaned forward to hug his boyfriend - fiance - and then pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek as he backed away again. "But," Jeonghan added before he could get too excited, and suddenly the sensation began to trickle away as if he'd just been stabbed right in his stomach. The pause that followed the single word made it seem as if Jeonghan was going to make a big deal out of something; as if he was going to request something that would take forever to get him or something that was near enough impossible to retrieve. Seungcheol didn't really know why he was suddenly getting that feeling, but it left him sitting with uncomfortable expectation nonetheless. " _But_ I do have some conditions if that's okay."

He waited for a moment to see if there was any protest to the request, but promptly moved on when he noticed that Seungcheol was gazing at him attentively. "I do think that our parents need to meet each other before we get married. And I'd much prefer something small, short and simple so that we can spend the rest of the day with the people who really matter to us. None of this drawn-out Western wedding stuff. I don't really want to spend more time than necessary having to deal with the wedding itself, and I don't even mind if we get pizza and two patisserie cakes or something. Do you agree that that's better than wasting our money and time on something huge and over the top?"

Seungcheol couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It was followed by a huge smile as he looked up at Jeonghan. "Is that everything you'd like?"  
"I think so. Is it something that you really don't agree with?"  
"No, I..." He trailed off, not knowing how to put the feelings into words. As much as he'd expected that he would end up having a big white wedding that had a much more Western theme than traditional weddings, he wasn't exactly complaining about the fact that Jeonghan wanted something simplistic. Perhaps it would have been nice to have a few more guests around, but he didn't really see an issue with the fact that his new fiance only wanted the people who mattered to be around them. It would make everything a lot less stressful for them, would fit with the tight budgets of their student lifestyle, and they would be able to settle back into their regular daily life again without having to worry about the emotional recovery following the event. "I completely agree."

Just as he'd anticipated, Chan was straight over to make his complaints. Surprisingly, though, he was quick to point out that he wasn't there to start an argument; rather, he thought that it was best to point out what was going to happen gently instead of making a huge deal out of it. "I don't mean to sound as if I'm criticising your decision," he said gently, "But I think we might need to think about this a bit more. Basically, if you get married this year, mommy isn't going to be able to get a job for the next three years. I do think it's moving a bit fast, but it's not up to me to bother you about that." His statements were quick and straight-forward without any attempt to make Seungcheol feel bad about his decision to push for the answer that he was looking for. It wasn't the reaction that he'd really been expecting from his son but Seungcheol was relieved that he was living by his words and had done as he promised, refraining from scolding him when it turned out that they'd made a slight mistake by rushing into marriage.

"Is that going to be bad?" Seungcheol asked.  
"Well, it's gonna be a problem if you need to pay your rent. It's just going to make money really tight for you and that's something you don't really need right now."  
"I guess I can find a job and support us like that, then." It was already done, so he didn't really know how he could sort it out and fix what they'd done. It wasn't something that he could evade now and there was no way of swaying the probability of it occurring, as far as he was concerned. That was the nature of the butterfly effects. Chan simply gave a hum of agreement for a moment and then quickly grew silent as he considered it some more.  
"I don't know exactly what it'll damage in the future, though. It might be the case that it's all fine and you pull through well. It might be the case that mommy ends up developing mental health problems as a result of being in the house all the time. Would you like me to check it out and get back to you?"

That came as a surprise to Seungcheol. He immediately asked whether Chan had always had the ability to check into the future and if so, why had he not mentioned it before to him. Surely it would have made things easier for everyone if he'd mentioned how to deal with the butterfly effects; it would have not only reduced the amount of stress that Chan was under, but would also help him to feel a lot more comfortable with the thought that Jeonghan and Seungcheol would be able to successfully handle the world around them. Likewise, it would've taken a huge burden off Seungcheol's mind if he'd known that it was possible to see how he would be able to solve the problems successfully.  
"Look, I have my reasons. I don't have to justify myself to you. I'm going to check the effects of it out and then I'll come back to talk to you about it, okay?"

There was the Chan that Seungcheol had come to know and love over their time together. It was a sign that he was still there in the background, even though he was trying to seem calm and collected to start with. It was a sign that things were going to work out and that the confession hadn't damaged his mental wellbeing as much as Seungcheol had initially anticipated. It was the sign that they were going to be able to get past the conversation that they'd had the week before; that it could all be swept under the rug and they could both simply get on with everything in their life as if Chan hadn't had a complete meltdown over the prospect of tearing his own family apart. That was where Chan signed off for a while, and Seungcheol was left with a strange fondness for his son once he was left to his own devices again.

"So, Jeonghan," he started as he turned his attention back to his fiance. "I'm thinking that it's best to just get the wedding out of the way right away, so I'm thinking that we should probably plan it out as soon as possible. We can do it another day if you're not in the mood to do it right now, but it's complet--"  
"I want to start it now." The look of determination on Jeonghan's face showed that he was excited to get on with it, and didn't want to make it out to seem like some sort of chore. Seungcheol liked that; it made it feel as if the decision to get married so young was a good choice that both of them were completely on board with, and that was exactly what he wanted. The last thing he wanted to feel was that they were doomed to fail right from the beginning.

"Do you know what sort of things we have to plan?" he asked, in hopes that they would be both on the same page, but Jeonghan's mouth instantly twitched into a pleased grin as he gave a nod. Without even waiting for any further prompt, he got straight into explaining everything. There were so many aspects to consider - so many that Seungcheol hadn't even thought would matter all that much - and he was left feeling amazed as he listened to his fiance going through the aspects of marriage in general. Even for a small wedding, they needed to find the wedding hall, find photographers to capture the highlights of the exchange, and they needed to hire suitable attire. It was also recommended that they take engagement photos beforehand so that their family and friends would know that they were planning on getting married. Even if they weren't going to be there, it was common courtesy to let them know that they were planning on sharing such a huge life event with each other. Then there was the planning of the wedding meal, the traditional clothes to wear for that part of the day, and the hotel for afterwards.

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow when he heard mentions of a hotel, and Jeonghan immediately rolled his eyes. "We might not be able to afford a proper honeymoon, but I'm sure that we can piece together enough to be able to have one night in a hotel together so that we're able to feel like a married couple," he told him, as if it was common knowledge, "And besides, I'd like a few modern twists, even if we're not going for something big. A hotel for the wedding night and the cake that we agreed on earlier is an absolute must, okay?" 

If that was all he wanted, Seungcheol supposed that he could get that arranged. It wasn't exactly his idea of the perfect wedding arrangement, but it was a two-way thing so he guessed that there were some areas where he would need to compromise. Perhaps if they did save up a little bit and got married in six months rather than the more common three months, they would be able to go away together to Jeju or Busan or somewhere else that was far away. It would be a lot better than simply getting a hotel room, he figured. Yet, he could still see where Jeonghan was coming from. Even though the main issue was money, there was also the issue of university work too. The last thing they wanted to do was fall behind on their classwork because they were too busy working in order to pay for their honeymoon. Especially if Chan was right and Jeonghan was unable to get a job until years after graduation. It would mean that Seungcheol would have to work even harder to make up the money that they were missing. In addition to that, whilst they were living comfortably with the money that they already had and weren't in desperate need for lots more money at the moment, it didn't mean that they could consistently put money aside every week or two to be able to afford their trip.

All in all, it sounded a lot better the more he thought about it. Jeonghan was strangely logical with that sort of thing. Their cake could be their treat and the hotel could be their escape, and that was all they really needed as a newlywed couple. After all, there were no rules to say that they couldn't renew their vows once they'd found their feet and were planning on starting their family. That would also fit in with Chan's idea that they married in their mid-twenties - they might be able to do exactly that if they got jobs soon after they graduated and put a lot to the side to be able to make it a personal affair instead of merely an attempt at giving each other full security whilst they were living together and studying.

"Is there anything else that we need to consider?" he asked Jeonghan once his fiance finished giving him the full list of pros and cons that came alongside the decision to opt for cake and a hotel over a holiday. He mulled it over for a moment before suddenly realising something and giving the slightest of winces.  
"I'm going to have to go back to our earlier topics again. How do you feel about our parents meeting each other over dinner? I really think we should get them to meet each other as soon as possible and I don't want to wait for the wedding day to do that, so it's probably the easiest way to push things forward."

There were a number of pros and cons that came alongside that idea, too. On one hand, it would give them plenty of time to find things that they disliked about their sons' in-laws right away, and that could easily creep into the wedding when they would be forced to meet again. On the other hand, meeting on the wedding day itself was likely to cause a great deal of tension and competition between them, even if they tried to keep it contained in order to refrain from ruining the wedding. Then there was the fact that neither boy was all that familiar with the other's parents so adding another set of parents to the mix could easily make things messy. Sure, there hadn't been any issues with the parents so far - no nasty comments or hostility - but it didn't mean that it was always going to be that way. And the more awkward they let things become, the worse it would be on the actual day.

The thought of it made Seungcheol's body prickle with tension. The last thing he wanted to do was share an awkward meal with both sets of parents so that they could announce their engagement, but he knew that it was something that would have to come out eventually so it was necessary just to go for it and not look back. Jeonghan could sense his reluctance right away and simply offered an encouraging smile as he tucked himself closer to his fiance's side. "If you think about it, they'll probably be anticipating an engagement anyway. Why else would we introduce them to each other over a meal?"

It was a fair point, now that it had been brought up. The chances that they _wouldn't_ expect that it was something more serious and a sign of their developing relationship was a lot slimmer than the chances of them thinking that they were there to announce their engagement. Obviously, it would probably be somewhat different for straight couples who were making those sorts of arrangements. It could be a sign that they were getting married too, but it could also be an announcement that they were planning on starting a family together, or it could just be a general way of introducing everyone to each other early on so that there was no awkwardness if they did decide to take the next steps. That was becoming increasingly common in their society, and it opened up a number of different opportunities to discuss a variety of different topics. Yet, they had already met each other's families already and it was a lot less likely for same-sex couples to take the plunge when it came to meeting the other person's family unless they were planning on making permanent changes in their relationship. It just wasn't accepted enough for it to be seen as appropriate to plunge their parents into that situation unless it was to announce a permanent decision.

At that point, though, Seungcheol was snapped out of his thoughts by Chan returning to his head. "Okay, I have a way for you to get around this," he informed him right away. "What you're going to do is get mommy a job before you get married and then you won't have to worry about him needing to get into another job because he's the sort to start applying whilst he's still in employment, so when he's rejected from all of the jobs he applies for, he'll stay where he's already employed."

It was impressive. Seungcheol hadn't really thought about it like that; he'd been convinced that the butterfly effect would already be in place and he would have to simply accept it, but his son had shown him a completely new side to the problem. It made sense once he thought about it and he was more surprised than anything that he _hadn't_ thought about it beforehand. Nevertheless, he still needed to take the time to mess with his son as part of their bonding ritual, and so he promptly snapped back with his reply.  
"Are you sure you're supposed to be giving me these tips?" he asked playfully.

Surprisingly, though, Chan didn't even retaliate as he normally would. "Do you not appreciate it or something? I can go back a few minutes and completely erase that from your memory so that you're left trying to figure it out, if you'd prefer that." His tone was dry but calm, unlike his usual irritated mannerisms. It was half like Chan, but had a new twinge of maturity tangled around his typical personality.  
"It's fine," Seungcheol insisted, trying his hardest to sound cheerful, "I'm really glad that you told me." He could tell the smugness in Chan's aura right from the moment he said it.

"Good. So, you're gonna want to encourage him to try for jobs at coffee houses. The best one will end up accepting him - they're really good with students who are taking medical degrees and work around their timetables well. I hope it goes well and he's happy there." And then he was gone again. It was a short, sharp exchange, but it made Seungcheol feel a hundred times better about everything in their life. Without wasting any time whatsoever, he decided to simply bring it up and get it out there in the open.

"By the way, do you think we should get proper part-time jobs before we marry so there's at least a bit of security for when we marry?"


	16. Chapter 16

Given the situation that they were in with each other's parents, in which Jeonghan's family loved Seungcheol and Seungcheol's similarly loved Jeonghan, neither of them really expected quite as much tension as they had when they finally got them to meet each other.

Of course, both sets of parents instantly knew what was happening. They both knew what to expect and were already anticipating the news right away. Jeonghan's parents did seem a lot more enthusiastic about the meal, as if they had been hoping for an engagement in the near future, but Seungcheol's parents didn't really seem all too against it either. They didn't actively complain about the decision to have everyone meeting each other properly, at the very least, which was a sign that they were okay to proceed with it even if it wasn't the most favourable event for them to attend. Either way, everyone kept negative opinions to themselves when they did decide to go ahead with the meeting and so both boys were certain that it was going to work out for the best in the end.

They booked a private room in a nearby restaurant in order to deliver the news. Whilst traditionally it would have been better for them to be able to have the meeting at their house, it was too much stress for them to try to make a good meal and make the place look presentable enough to start such an important discussion. After all, the last thing they needed to worry about was making sure that everything was perfect. Their house was hardly the biggest or fanciest - just the typical student apartment in Seoul, really - and they only had four chairs in total which meant that it would look sloppy and unorganised right away. It could drop their chances of getting approval, Jeonghan pointed out; the poor student exterior to their relationship made it seem as if they were nowhere near ready to actually commit to a long-term, permanent relationship, and so he figured that their parents would probably be reluctant to give their blessing under the current circumstances. At least in a proper restaurant, there would be a lot fewer things to have to organise.

When it finally came to the arranged date, they made sure to scrub up as best as possible. Classes finished at around two o'clock for both of them and dinner was at seven o'clock, giving them five hours to ensure that everything was absolutely perfect. They spent an excruciating amount of time trying to pick out the clothes that would make them seem the most serious and mature, and then spent a good amount of time showering and shaving and brushing teeth and trimming fingernails, and generally doing all of the little things that would add a few bonus points in favour of their decision. Any little thing to help was going to add to the big picture, in their opinion, so they needed to make it absolutely perfect.

And then it was time to make their way over to the restaurant. They left fifteen minutes earlier than they needed to in order to ensure that they were there first, and then waited until just five minutes before the booking so that they could go in and get seated. Their parents would be sent through to the room when they arrived; by that point they would have had a good amount of time to brace themselves and get ready for the flurry of questions that were inevitably going to come at them when they announced their engagement. There were so many different possibilities for reactions and responses, and it was impossible to go through all of those possibilities in order to prepare themselves, but they made sure to do what they could in hopes that it would make the conversation flow a bit better.

It felt like forever before their parents arrived. First Jeonghan's parents entered the room and sat next to their son, where they promptly started asking both boys how they had been. They started to ask about the new house and their studies, and just the little things about life that hadn't really been brought up in conversation lately. Around five minutes later, Seungcheol's parents arrived, although they seemed a bit wary about the situation overall. They were a lot quieter than Seungcheol expected when they entered the room, and their greeting to him was relatively brief, considering that he hadn't seen them in a few weeks. They took their seat next to him, just as Jeonghan's parents had done, before glancing at their son expectantly to start the introductions.

Suddenly, Seungcheol's mouth was like cotton. He smiled awkwardly and tried to force the words out, but it was proving to be a particularly difficult task. The words sounded mechanical as he spoke too, which only served to make things that little bit more awkward. Thankfully, Jeonghan sounded a lot more composed and confident as he introduced his own parents to Seungcheol's family, although the conversation quickly fell flat straight afterwards. In an attempt to mask how tense the situation was, both boys handed out the menus and buried their noses between the laminated sheets of paper, hoping more than anything that there would be some common ground in some way which would allow their parents to drop their guard a bit. Perhaps two people would pick lobster, or there would be some debate about how to make the best barbeque pork.

Of course, that didn't happen at all. It was typical. Everyone ordered very different meals, there was no discussion about the food, and the atmosphere only grew tenser. Given that it couldn't possibly get worse, Seungcheol decided that it was best to dip straight into the news as they waited for their food to arrive. He gave Jeonghan the agreed glance to show that he was about to bring it up, which earned a long, forced exhale from his fiance as he gave a small nod and tried to brace himself for the conversation that was due to follow.

"S... so, I suppose everyone here already has their guesses about why we're all gathered here today?" he asked. Although there was no direct answer, he could see both sets of parents staring at him expectantly as soon as he spoke. His parents seemed curious but still wary, whilst Jeonghan's parents seemed to be expecting the best. It was at that point that he figured his own parents probably anticipated it but weren't necessarily on board, whereas his future in-laws were a lot happier with the idea that their son might be getting married. Seungcheol cleared his throat and allowed his head to drop slightly, in an attempt to avoid making direct eye contact with anyone in particular. The last thing he wanted was to see the light suddenly leave someone's eyes when he delivered the news. It would be a huge knock to his confidence, and would definitely put a sour mood on the rest of the evening.

"As you've probably all guessed by this point, I asked Jeonghan to marry me a few weeks ago, and he said that he would love to go ahead with a wedding." Thankfully, the room wasn't left in complete silence when he made the announcement. Jeonghan's mother gasped right away and started to blurt out congratulations to both of them right away. His father was quick to follow, and immediately turned to his son to ask how he'd managed to keep it hidden for so long without even giving hints towards their engagement. He usually called his parents every day so it was strange that he'd managed to keep it such a huge secret for so long. Jeonghan immediately grew shy as he confessed to them that it had been incredibly difficult to keep it a secret, and that he had been dying to tell them since Seungcheol asked him.

Seungcheol's parents, on the other hand, didn't seem quite as happy. They were smiling, sure, but their eyes were telling him that they were disappointed. He didn't really want to ask them about it in case it caused further tension with Jeonghan's family, and so he simply dropped his head again in shame and hoped that the rest of the meal would help them to accept it better. Yet, Jeonghan's parents weren't exactly the sort of people to completely let it go and promptly started to push for some sort of response from Seungcheol's parents, which was probably the biggest cause for the tension ultimately.

"Isn't it great news?" Jeonghan's mother asked as she stared at Seungcheol's mother. The look in her eyes was suggesting that she was actively trying to get her involved so that she could show her support properly, and it obviously wasn't meant to be malicious in any way but Seungcheol's mother immediately diverted her gaze.  
"I suppose it is."

"Well, I think it's really great news," she continued. It was clear that she wanted to ask her what she meant by her comment but was trying not to come across as rude. "After all, they _have_ been together for a long time already and they're about to start their life together properly. Now that they have their own place and they're adults, this is the next step." There was a long pause; much longer than Seungcheol would have ever wanted. He didn't really know how to take it. Perhaps he was imagining the pause to be a lot longer than it actually was because he was anticipating the response, but it was nevertheless the most awkward moment he'd ever experienced with his parents.  
"I don't know," his mother finally said. "I just think they're moving way too fast."

That was where the tension officially started. "A lot of straight couples are together for much less time than this before they start considering getting married," Jeonghan's father pointed out flatly.  
"But they're still children," Seungcheol's mother pointed out, "They're not really old enough to be thinking about marriage when they have all of their lives to worry about that sort of thing. What if it doesn't work out now, after they've rushed into it?"  
"It will work out," Seungcheol and Jeonghan said simultaneously. Then they made eye contact with each other, sharing a mixed sense of discomfort with the situation as a whole and relief that they were both secure enough in their relationship to know that the decision to marry was a good one to make.

"I honestly thought about it a lot," Jeonghan insisted. He made sure to point out that he'd given it some time to think about whether he genuinely wanted to get married and whether it was a good decision to make; after all, he wasn't really the sort of person to get engaged for the sake of it, and he really didn't want to go ahead with something so permanent if he wasn't sure about his feelings towards it. That was proof that perhaps they weren't ready for it, Seungcheol's father pointed out; if they were genuinely happy to get engaged, it should be an automatic decision. That was showing that Jeonghan didn't really want to get married as much as Seungcheol apparently did, and that perhaps they should slow it down.  
"Oh, seriously," Jeonghan's mother scolded as she offered a scowl to Seungcheol's parents, "You're supposed to be here to support them. Whether you like it or not, they're engaged to be married now and there's nothing you can do about it. Either accept the fact that they're in love and want to have a permanent relationship, or keep your opinions to yourselves."

Naturally, that led to more strain. Before they could get too far with the argument, though, their meals arrived at the tables. Seungcheol was certain that the waiting staff could sense the tension, especially since everyone in the room was sat in complete silence when they entered with the plates. It wasn't their place to say anything so they continued to do their jobs without question, but the understanding, apologetic glances that they gave to Seungcheol and Jeonghan showed that they knew exactly what had happened. It wasn't really the greatest situation for them to be in to start with, without having to deal with the fact that their parents had highly differing views about the engagement, and the staff genuinely seemed to sympathise with that sort of thing.

They ate in complete silence. Seungcheol could tell that his parents were unimpressed by the way they ate. Chopsticks were hitting plates louder than necessary and spoons were being placed down so deliberately that it felt almost passive-aggressive. The air was thick enough to cut with a knife and Seungcheol could barely swallow his food when everything felt so uncomfortable. He tried offering up a sweet smile to his fiance, but Jeonghan was just as uncomfortable and awkward as he tried to return it.

And then to top it off, his parents insisted that they finish the meal as quickly as possible once they had eaten their meal. It led to some angry comments from Jeonghan's parents about how there was no need to be petty, since they were all adults in the room and everyone was entitled to the opportunity to make their own decisions in life, but then Seungcheol's mother quickly snapped that she needed time to think about everything that was going on around her. She wasn't going to suddenly be fine with it because another woman told her that she should be happy about the fact that her son was engaged whilst he was still in university and at a very young age, with genuine intention to get married as soon as possible, and so she needed time to adjust to it. It had been her plan for her son to marry a woman and have children, and although she did really like Jeonghan and appreciated the fact that her son was interested in another man, she still needed time to adjust to the fact that the image of her son was going to have to change drastically. There was no woman; no chance for him to marry a woman if this was his decision.

That bit surprised Seungcheol a lot. As much as his mother was stating that she supported them and was happy that he was dating Jeonghan, she also seemed to be contradicting herself too. She wanted them to be together, but she also still wanted her son to marry a woman. She was fine with him being into guys and having a boyfriend, but wasn't quite as comfortable with him marrying his boyfriend. She didn't like the permanence of it, especially not since they wouldn't be able to have biological children together unless they used a surrogate. It was disheartening, to say the least. He'd truly thought that she was genuinely accepting of their relationship, but it was going to show that she wasn't quite as happy with it as she'd originally said. Perhaps Jeonghan hadn't won her approval after all.

The look on his face was showing that he felt awful. As Seungcheol's parents slapped down the money for their food and left, Seungcheol could see the discomfort in his fiance's expression. He tried to hold it together as much as possible but then when his parents asked him if he was okay and apologised on behalf of his future in-laws' behaviour, he suddenly melted. Seungcheol hadn't seen him crying out of hurt for quite a while - the last time was probably during one of their arguments around a month or two ago - so it absolutely broke his heart to see that his parents had done such damage. There wasn't even anything that he could say to make it better. He could hardly apologise on behalf of them too because that wasn't really going to fix things. He hadn't expected that they would react in such a way, and he'd genuinely expected that they would have been tolerable even if they weren't completely onboard with it. In the end, he simply gave a weak apology before suggesting that he pay for everyone's meals for the inconvenience that he caused by inviting his parents along.

"Don't be silly," Jeonghan's mother told him as she offered a warm smile. "It's not your fault that they're acting like that. You told them about your relationship a long time ago and they've had plenty of time to tell you that they don't approve. In fact, I think Jeonghan has mentioned going to visit them on more than one occasion, so they've had a number of opportunities to make up their mind about him. It's just childish and petty and there was no need for that sort of behaviour from them." Then came the offer for ice cream in order to make it up to them. It wasn't going to fix everything that had happened, but at least it would help to take the tension down a notch. It would also give them the chance to ask more about their relationship, since they hadn't really had the chance to ask about it over the meal. Jeonghan gave a sniffle and nod in response, and so they paid the bill before leaving the restaurant.

Just as expected, though, emotions were still running high when they got back to their house later that night. Jeonghan was unusually quiet and didn't really want to talk about exactly what had made him the most upset during the meal, but Seungcheol completely understood that. But then again, when they laid down in bed, ready to sleep for the night, Jeonghan's attitude completely changed.

"I know this is a bit of a long shot, but have you considered maybe eloping instead of having a proper wedding?" he asked as he cuddled against Seungcheol's body. His voice was strangely calm, as if he'd really been thinking it through, and it came as a surprise to hear him talking about something like that so calmly after he'd been so insistent on following the traditional procedures of getting their parents involved in their wedding.  
"Have you really thought about this?" Seungcheol asked, just to make sure, "You do know that eloping typically means that your parents won't be in attendance, right?" Jeonghan simply gave a hum of acknowledgement and paused for a moment, seemingly considering it once more.

"I think they would understand if we eloped, though. It seemed like it would be pretty insensitive, but I think they would get how unfair it would be if we invited them and not your parents. But even if your parents came to terms with everything, I think there would be a lot of tension at the wedding still and that's not something that I really want on our wedding day. Does that make sense?" Strangely enough, it actually did make sense. Seungchol buried his face in Jeonghan's hair and inhaled as he thought it through. Of course, there were some benefits of having a proper wedding. For starters, their close friends and family would likely give them some money or appliances for their house, which would make things a lot easier for them whilst they were living on part-time job wages and trying to balance university at the same time. Yet, there were also a lot of disadvantages too. As Jeonghan had mentioned, his parents hardly seemed happy with the fact that they were planning on marrying, so they would either not attend or would cause more tension and stress overall. Then there was the price of hiring out suits and the wedding hall, the meal afterwards, the expected engagement photos and invitations to those who they wanted to come along, and then it would probably be so small that it wouldn't be worth the price that they would be paying.

As dumb as it sounded, he was actually rather interested in the idea of eloping. "Maybe we should elope this weekend or something?" he suggested, "Find the nearest cheap wedding hall, hire it and get married in whatever formalwear we have here already. It would save the hassle of planning and organising it." Jeonghan immediately turned over to face him with a look of surprise on his face, as if he'd not been expecting that sort of response.  
"Are you being serious with me right now? Are we genuinely considering doing this?"

Of course they were. It was the logical solution to their issue, and would keep the stress of marrying as low as possible. Plus there was nothing that their parents could do or say about it if they were already married. Jeonghan's parents would probably be fine with it anyway, but Seungcheol's family would be forced to accept the fact that their son wasn't going to change his opinion any time soon.

"Would you like me to find something now and save the details so that this is definitely our way forward?" Jeonghan asked as he reached over to the bedside table to grab his phone. Without even waiting for an answer, he was straight on it and promptly began to search for anywhere with availability.

There was silence for a few minutes as he worked quickly to find somewhere. Seungcheol sat in silence for a moment, hoping that his fiance would turn out results soon enough, and so he was far from disappointed when Jeonghan turned his phone around just minutes later to show a photo of a picturesque outdoor wedding venue. "It's in Daegu," he said with a smile, "No minimum capacity, takes last minute bookings, and we can probably get them to do a very quick wedding for us for a cheap price. I'll call them tomorrow and get it booked."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is coming pretty late as a result of 32 hour weeks at work mixed with assignments for my degree, but you may have noticed that the chapter cap has been removed for now!! This fic took some turns that I didn't really expect so I'm not sure how it's going to progress. We have at least two more chapters, but there might be a few more - I'm not quite sure yet
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	17. Chapter 17

"Could I make a suggestion?" Chan asked when they were searching for suits to wear for their wedding day in the nearest wedding shop. It was the first time he'd spoken to Seungcheol in quite a while, having left most of the decisions to his dad for the moment. They were getting to the end of his project and he'd decided that he'd helped out to a sufficient level, and so it was mostly just neatening up the edges from that point onwards. He didn't really want to leave them in an awkward place or anything, but there was no point in dragging it out further if it seemed too unnecessary to do so. After all, it was eating into the time he was spending on his other classes and he would be expected to report back on what he'd influenced if he continued to supervise them.

"Hm?" Seungcheol asked as he slowed down his flicking through the suits on the rack. "What is it? Is there another butterfly effect on the way or is it something more personal."  
"It's personal this time, don't worry." As much as his dad had given that as a suggested answer, Chan still appeared to be incredibly embarrassed to admit that it wasn't anything to do with his work. "Um, my mommy looks really handsome in a white suit, and he really loves seeing you in dark blue but he would never confess it out loud because he doesn't think that it's appropriate to tell you that sort of thing."  
"He doesn't think it's appropriate?" Seungcheol echoed.  
"Yeah, he... he just happened to tell me a little while ago that you wore dark blue to marry him in your original timeline and he thought it was the most attractive thing he'd ever seen and... well, I mean, he _did_ give say that he made the wedding night a little bit longer than he would've done otherwise as a result of it."

Seungcheol had to fight the urge to raise an eyebrow. He didn't really think that his son would tell him something like that, but he was happy about it nonetheless. "When did he tell you that? And has he never mentioned it to me before, then?" Chan immediately let out a low groan as he realised that he'd started to feed his dad's ego, and Seungcheol could sense the eye-rolling that came alongside his words.  
"Okay, he only told me about it a few months ago. Bit rubbish for him to leave it until after you'd decided on a divorce already, since I guess you could've both rekindled the romance a bit by wearing something similar to the wedding suits that you hired if he'd mentioned it earlier. Plus I don't even know whether he's mentioned it to you before but I don't think he has. It's something you're gonna have to keep in mind for the future because you might need it at some point."

It was a huge surprise to hear Chan talking about the divorce so openly after he'd spent so long getting upset over the thought of it. Up until that point, he'd hardly mentioned it at all and any time that it did come up, he dropped his voice on the word so that he wouldn't have to remind himself of it. It wasn't really like him to be able to say the word so comfortably, and so Seungcheol made sure to point it out once his son had finished explaining the situation. "Are we still definitely getting a divorce in your timeline, then?" he asked, and he was met right away with a drawn-out noise to indicate that it was sort of the case.  
"You're still getting a divorce and you're both signed the papers, which is really sad, but the other day you both got drunk on some soju that mommy's friend bought you, and you ended up sleeping together so I think that maybe it's a good sign that you'll at least stay on good terms and maybe realise that getting a divorce was a huge mistake." He was praying for the new timeline to replace his one so that he didn't even need to worry about a divorce in the first place, in all honesty, but he was taking things one step at a time and thanking whatever deities were looking over him for the little bits of progress along the way.

That was great news, Seungcheol decided. He felt as if it was a sign that things were going to be well for his son too, and that it would mean that the entire project was worth the time and effort that he put into it. Even if some things couldn't be changed, a lot of things could easily be altered and adjusted for a much better future. That was the sort of news that made Seungcheol genuinely happy, if he was being completely honest. He diverted his attention back to the clothes on the rack for the moment and then took three different blue suits so that he could try them on in the changing room. On the way over, he caught Jeonghan's hand hesitating on the sleeve of a white suit and made sure to point out to him that he would look amazing in it, which left his fiance flustered as he took it straight off the rack and started to examine it better.

Once he was in the changing room, his attention moved straight back to his son. "So do you think that the future will have issues as a result of the various new timelines that students and researchers are creating, by the way?" he asked Chan as he began to change into one of the suits, "I don't suppose having multiple timelines is going to be great for the world, especially if a lot of people have multiple realities."  
"We still don't know whether it's going to end up causing huge issues or whether the timelines will merge or overlap or replace everything," Chan confessed with an awkward laugh, "Besides the butterfly effects, that's why I was sort of hoping to keep you and mommy to the same sort of timeline."

Seungcheol couldn't help but sigh. "I mean, you could've _told_ me that beforehand and I would've seen what I could do."  
"It was experimental; I didn't really know if it was your past actions that would determine how things ended up working out after I... well, you know. Plus I can't really say that I know _everything_ about your relationship. Mommy wouldn't tell me everything and the version of you that's living in my timeline isn't really all that fond of discussing it. You're a little bit more reserved. I guess it's nice to be able to talk to you like this as a result, and who knows? You could've been like this when you were younger anyway."

The hum of acknowledgement could have easily been in response to the suit or what Chan said. Even Seungcheol himself didn't really know. Perhaps it was even a mix of both, where the changing into the suit had just happened to cover up his approval for what his son was suggesting. He probably _was_ a bit of a fuckboy in his son's timeline, and he confessed that he was definitely going to continue on that non-committed, sexually dominant heartbreaker path if he hadn't been forced to meet Jeonghan early. It wasn't worth denying it because he absolutely knew that if they hadn't met and started dating each other, thanks to Chan's pressure to do so, he wouldn't be stood there in the suit. He wouldn't even be considering marriage, and he definitely wouldn't be open to the thought of starting a new life with a romantic partner before the age of twenty-five.

"So, would you tell me a bit more about your brothers?" he asked as he adjusted the sleeves and collar of the jacket. It fit well, but he wasn't all too fond of the single vent at the back. He was more of a double vent sort of guy; it usually sat a lot better on his ass, which wasn't exactly the smallest for a guy's ass. There was a definite issue with trousers clinging to his lower half, and the last thing he needed was for his suit to part too deeply around it like that too. It was time to switch to the next one, which had the double vent but also a strange collar that he wasn't all too sure about.

Chan suddenly seemed excited now that he'd been asked about his brothers. Seungcheol knew right away that he was going to start going into detail about each of them. He mentally prepared himself for it, since he knew that he was going to be taking in a lot of information if they ended up adopting eleven kids together, and so his son promptly got right to work.

Jisoo was the eldest, and he still wasn't all too sure whether he would exist in this timeline or not. It was a bit of a hit-and-miss situation, but he hoped more than anything that Jisoo would end up coming into their lives. He was really hoping that his aunt would have him, and if Jeonghan didn't consider naming the child after his best friend, Seungcheol was going to have to step in and push for it. After all, Jeonghan had considered it quite a lot in Chan's timeline and wasn't sure whether he liked the thought of naming children after other people. He had a huge problem with parents who named their kids after themselves and was even a bit uncomfortable with people who took part of their names and mixed them with their partner's names. Apparently, Seungcheol had playfully suggested "Jeongcheol" or "Seunghan" for their first child, and Jeonghan hadn't been impressed in the slightest. He was currently studying psychology, looking into language development, and later followed Jeonghan's footsteps by becoming a speech therapist.

Next was a boy called Wen Junhui. He'd been adopted whilst they were visiting China, and he kept his surname after they adopted him. He was a few months younger than Jisoo but they adopted him when he was around five or six years old. His parents had passed away and he had no other living relatives. Despite the fact that they'd had quite a few children already by the time they adopted him, Jeonghan begged to take him in as their own because he couldn't stand the thought of a child so small having no family, and so Seungcheol reluctantly went ahead with the adoption. It turned out, though, that Seungcheol and Junhui bonded particularly well in the end and he became one of the favourite children in the family. He was into public service and started working on the local paramedic team.

Then there was an absolutely adorable little boy called Soonyoung. They adopted him soon after Jisoo, and he was a baby at the time. His parents had him whilst they were still in school and decided that they couldn't continue with their education if they had a baby in the house, so after a few months of considering it they finally put him up for adoption. Jeonghan managed to finalise the adoption before anyone else because the parents were related to one of his clients - they would frequently take the mother's little sister in to the hospital to see him for symptoms of anxiety, since Jeonghan trained in play therapy for a while after his initial university degree, and so he had the opportunity to talk to them as well. Chan pointed out that Jeonghan loved Soonyoung a lot right from the start and would always comment that his soft chubby cheeks made him look like a tiny marshmallow. Seungcheol couldn't help but snort at the comment as he decided that it was definitely like his fiance to talk about a baby in that sort of way. Chan made sure to add that he was still trying to figure out what to do with his life and was currently studying dance and choreography whilst working part-time in a bakery.

Wonwoo followed. He was a relatively quiet boy in general, usually keeping to himself and preferring to read books to playing games with his brothers. He was adopted at two years old and the main reason why they adopted him was that he held his arms out to be held by Jeonghan right away. Of course, he was a sucker for that sort of thing and instantly wanted to take the child home. Seungcheol agreed that he could see that. Any interaction with children in which they showed some sort of attachment to him was going to be something that led him to take them into his life. Apparently, though, Wonwoo simply opted for the quiet life after university and became a librarian instead of choosing a big, fancy career path like his brothers. He was happy, and that was all that mattered.

Jihoon was next. Jeonghan and Seungcheol had already agreed to adopt him when his mother was pregnant, and he ended up being born two months prematurely so he ended up having to live in the hospital for a while. He was incredibly small, even as he grew older, but went from being the kid who was sad about being small and would try anything to try to grow, to the guy who stopped paying attention to his height but was just generally angry at the whole world instead. It was good for his work, though; he was a dance teacher at a top performing arts university, so he needed to be firm with his students.

After that, they had Seokmin. He was actually one of the children they ended up having via a surrogate, since Jeonghan had been determined to have another child in his life and wasn't all too fond of the fact that the adoption agencies were suggesting that he couldn't handle that many children. His mother had ended up staying with them during her pregnancy so that they could ensure that she was getting the proper vitamins and minerals, seeing as she was relatively poor and they found out that she was skipping meals on a daily basis. Seokmin had been a relatively quiet baby, Chan told him, and was full of smiles soon after he was born. He was also quick to grow attached to Soonyoung as they were growing up, and so they pretty much spent all of their time together. For the moment, he was working as a barista, but he was also in the process of finishing his chemistry postgraduate degree.

Then there was Mingyu. Chan immediately pointed out that he was the pretty one of the family, but he was also a bit dense. He was intelligent when it came to his IQ and his overall grades - he'd managed to bag himself an unconditional offer to one of the top law schools in the country before he'd even finished school - but he was also the sort of person to forget to put the hot water into his mug of tea. And he _had_ done exactly that in the past. He made common sense look as if it was rare, and he was probably the clumsiest person he'd ever met on top of that. He was also gullible, just to add. At one point, Wonwoo had convinced him that putting food in the microwave would take a lot longer than in the oven, and so he ended up turning his pizza to charcoal by putting it in the microwave for thirty-two minutes instead of sixteen.

Another Chinese boy was next in the age order - Minghao - although Chan pointed out that he wasn't adopted until much later. In fact, he was the last one to be adopted out of the group and had only joined their family because the orphanage he lived at was shutting down and they knew that Jeonghan and Seungcheol had already taken in one of their boys. Of course, Jeonghan had been unable to resist. Between his doe eyes and shy smile, he couldn't resist. Apparently, Seungcheol had been a lot more hesitant when it came to adopting their eleventh child, as they'd agreed to stop at ten, but Minghao had been so feisty yet cute that he couldn't reject him. He was another member of the household who had decided to get a job in dance and entertainment, since the money his parents had given him was spent on dance lessons back in China and he'd naturally developed his skills very well as a result.

Finally, he got to the last three boys. There was Seungkwan, who was taken in when his mother couldn't look after him anymore, Hansol, who was born to an American university student living in Korea, and then Chan himself. Seungcheol couldn't help but smirk when he noticed how quickly his son skipped through the last two in order to discuss his own passions and hobbies. "Were you getting bored of discussing your brothers or something? You seemed so excited to tell me about them at the start," he pointed out, and he could tell that the comment embarrassed his son right away.

"No, I just..." He hesitated for a moment, "I know it sounds stupid, but the eldest brothers are always there for all of us and we got to know everything about them as a result. The younger brothers, on the other hand, tend to keep to themselves. Seungkwan and Hansol are only a year older than me, so they're still in university too. But they're living across the country at the moment. Seungkwan went to study in Jeju and Hansol is in Busan. So we don't really talk. And I don't really know what they're actually studying, whether they've got girlfriends or boyfriends, whether they're happy..."

Seungcheol could feel himself waiting in anticipation for Chan to continue speaking after he'd trailed off. It took a moment for him to catch himself and continue to change out of the suit he'd been wearing but thankfully, the multi-tasking was what ultimately led him to say what was on his mind. "You know, the younger few are really secretive, other than me. I was another surrogate baby, actually - well, sort of. One of mommy's friends went through IVF with you as the donor, since her husband is infertile and all, and she ended up having three babies but she could only handle twins so she ended up letting mommy have me instead. We're really close, as a result, and I didn't want to move away from him when I went to university so I'm still in Seoul.

"Anyway, Mingyu is obviously really busy at the moment because of his degree, but Minghao, Seungkwan, and Hansol barely even call mommy to tell him that they're okay. I think it makes him sad but he won't admit it. Sometimes Wonwoo mentions having spoken to Mingyu and mommy gets really down over it. And as much as he acts like he understands why the others don't bother talking to anyone in the family, with the amount of stress they're under and all, I know it upsets him. In fact, the announcement of the divorce was the first reason for everyone coming to visit in around two years."

It was clear that the topic got Chan down. Seungcheol considered spending more time in the dressing room so that he could discuss it with him further, but his son made sure to point out that Jeonghan would be wondering where he got to if he took too long. In the end, he took the second suit out of the changing room and then took it over to the counter to hire it before his fiance managed to look at it properly. Once it was all paid for, Jeonghan made his way straight over to comment on how they'd managed to hire two suits for 120,000W and how it had saved them a huge amount of money. That on top of the hotel in Daegu, which was around 40,000W for a night, and train tickets, which came to 42,000W, meant that they could splash out a little more on their wedding meal.

It was a good idea to go for a more modern style, they decided as they started to walk together. The mess of trying to arrange for hanbok, wedding meals, official wedding photoshoots and the sorts would have been a lot more expensive in comparison. Whilst they were still going to have to fork out a lot for it, with the total coming to around 300,000W. They had ultimately decided against the wedding hall, since it had turned out to be a lot more expensive than they were originally anticipating, but had instead found a government building that was available to hire in order to marry on the cheap. It was a result of a desperate attempt to encourage marriage at a younger age, so they were able to get a good deal on it all. Admittedly, the cost of marrying was still relatively high but between them, they'd managed to scrape together the funds relatively well. It meant that it was definitely going ahead, and that was something that they were both looking forward to.

As much as there was almost certainly going to be a huge butterfly effect on the way as a result of so many changes to their original wedding in Chan's current timeline, their son made sure to tell them just to go ahead with it anyway. If there were any issues, he would try to find another way around it so that they wouldn't have to worry about it. The most important thing was that they managed to get married and start their life together.


	18. Chapter 18

It was only when they were on their way to the wedding hall - or rather, wedding _basement_ \- that Seungcheol realised that he had absolutely no schema for how a real-life wedding should look. They hadn't really had the opportunity to go in and practice beforehand. It wasn't really like they needed to do so, after all; there was no one to impress with it. They were the only people who had to be there, and anyone who happened to be around would serve as their witnesses. A sloppy mess of misspoken vows and fumbling around for rings didn't exactly matter when that was the case. It was just too expensive for them to hop on a train a few days beforehand and go over to run through how it would look to their "guests". It wasn't even like they had the time to do that, with the wedding planning being so rushed and all, so they simply sucked it up and got on with it.

The lack of a schema did leave him feeling exposed, though. He'd always seen weddings in dramas, where they would glide down the aisle and everyone would turn to watch them. Yet, there were so many gaps. They would never really know how the groom got to be at the front. Did he stroll in there and just stand waiting for his fiance to get to the front of the room? Did he wait for everyone else to sit first and then go towards the front so that everyone would see him doing so? Was he already there? Did he walk down with someone or did he have to go there on his own? Then, what exactly happened between getting in there and the vows. That part was usually cut short for the television screen. In fact, it would often be muffled so that the audience could focus on the emotional family and friends in the audience, or the loving glances between the couple.

The most difficult part, though, was going to be figuring out what they would do differently as two guys who were going to marry. It was something that was unheard of on the television; whilst it was perfectly legal for them to marry by that point in time, there was still some hesitance to normalise non-heterosexual marriages for the moment. One step at a time, they said; first, they would have gay couples starting to make appearances on shows, then they would eventually be able to get married and raise children together. Thinking about it, though, Seungcheol was already convinced that the shows wouldn't really do anything to help him develop a schema for how two guys should go about getting married. They would probably just start the ceremony at the front of the hall. Did that mean that for their wedding, they should do the same? Should they simply go down together? Should Jeonghan take on the role of the wife because he was the person who had been asked? Did masculinity or bedroom roles dictate that sort of thing? Was it even worth it if no one was going to be escorting him down the aisle? It was something that they'd not really discussed in detail, but they would have to figure it out rather quickly when they arrived.

In reality, it wouldn't be anything like the dramas. It didn't really make sense for it to be like that, at least as far as Seungcheol was concerned. He was sure that the person who was supposed to be marrying them would do something to pad it out a bit before they got to the vows, but he didn't really know what he expected them to actually _do_ when it came to it. It wasn't really like it mattered that much; he was pretty sure that most of it was for show anyway. Then he and Jeonghan had come up with their own vows - as was suggested by his fiance himself - so would they be encouraged to say them to each other in a particular way? Was it still going to have an element of organisation to it if they weren't getting married in a proper ceremony, or would it be a bit more casual?

The more he thought about it, the more he came to realise that he knew absolutely nothing about marriage. It was increasingly terrifying that the thought had only hit him when they were on their way there. He glanced over at his fiance in hopes that it would show him that there was nothing to get anxious about. Jeonghan gently tapped his thighs with the ends of his fingers as he tried to calm his nerves, but he generally seemed as if he was managing to cope relatively well despite the nerves. It left Seungcheol feeling jealous, above everything else. The relatively calm composure of his fiance left his anxiety rising even further, demonstrating an even greater contrast between their responses, and he swore it was just getting worse as the seconds passed. It was probably the worst possible time for him to realise that he didn't know how it would end up going to work out.

"Don't worry about it," Chan told him after a while. He'd probably noticed the flurry of thoughts racing through his father's mind, including the consideration of simply opening the window and launching himself out of it whilst he still had the opportunity to escape. "I promise that it's nowhere near as bad as you're expecting. Mommy is as nervous as you are, and there are a few little slip-ups in every wedding, so I'm sure you'll be fine."  
"Have you watched through our wedding?" The long pause that followed suggested that his son had seen it.  
"I can't tell you anything about it exactly, but I promise that you actually know a lot more about weddings than you think you do. It'll be completely fine."

Strangely, he left it at that. He'd not been around much lately, as had been the norm since Seungcheol had proposed to Jeonghan, but it seemed more and more like he was just there for moral support at bad times, only to leave again shortly after. As much as Seungcheol had hated having his so around all of the time right at the start, he could feel himself getting more and more uncomfortable with the lack of interaction as time moved forward. It wasn't like he really needed Chan to be there. Seungcheol was an adult and was confident in his ability to make adult decisions, so he wasn't really going to ask his teenage son to help him with that sort of thing in the future. Yet, it still felt as if there was a little part of him missing whenever Chan wasn't around. It was a feeling that Seungcheol had been unable to pinpoint for the longest time, but he supposed that he could settle on "loneliness", if nothing else was sufficient in describing the feeling.

And that loneliness was back again now that his son had left him to face his thoughts alone again. As much as Chan had had good intentions, it had probably done the exact _opposite_ of helping to calm his nerves. Seungcheol tried his hardest to simply drift back towards the reality that was surrounding him, but it was hard when he needed to feel as if what he was doing was right. He needed that reassurance for once - that promise that he wasn't about to ruin their lives for good - and only his son was able to deliver on that. He ended up simply turning towards his fiance and telling him that he was scared, having figured that honesty was the best policy for the moment. If Chan wasn't there to tell him that it was all going to be fine, perhaps Jeonghan would be able to fill that gap. But then again...

"Are you having second thoughts about us getting married?" That was probably the opposite of _his_ intention. Seungcheol just about caught himself before he'd managed to launch himself out of his chair in panic, instead simply grabbing his fiance's hands as he gave a desperate smile. It was probably scary, he thought, but Jeonghan seemed more concerned than frightened.  
"No no, I want to marry you still. I'm just worried about how everything is going to turn out when we get there, and how married life will treat us in general when we get into it more. Does that make sense?" Of course it did. He'd probably explained it in the most simple way possible so that Jeonghan understood the basics of his emotions. It delved a lot deeper than that, in reality, but he didn't really need to know about that.

The response was shuffling closer and tucking himself against Seungcheol's side. For a moment, they simply sat there, calmed slightly by the warmth of human touch and the gentle vibrations of the train's movement underneath them. Neither really wanted to be the sort to break the new silence, especially since it was more of a reflective silence than an awkward one. Seungcheol could tell that Jeonghan was thinking it all over as much as he had done, and now that the reality was starting to hit them, it was getting to the point where the thoughts of marriage were starting to leave them nervous. He made sure to press a kiss to the top of his fiance's head, just to show that he was there for him if he wanted to discuss it, and Jeonghan promptly adjusted his position so that he could look up at Seungcheol's face.

"Do you think it's still a good idea that we're getting married?" he asked, his voice dropping low so that the other people on the train didn't hear him saying such a thing. As much as they knew that those people would never get to see their wedding, it felt awful to think that they were leaving a bad impression in the minds of the other people around them. Seungcheol completely understood his concerns about being seen as dumb twenty-something-year-olds who were simply rushing into a permanent relationship for the sake of it, although he refrained from mentioning it out loud, in favour of pushing Jeonghan's fears to the side.  
"I think it's best that we go for it," he confessed with a smile, "I think we might be moving faster than we intended, but it's that natural point in our relationship where I think we need to go ahead. We're happy together, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon."

"And do you think we're ever going to fall out of love with each other?" Those words sent an uncomfortable shiver down Seungcheol's spine. He wasn't all that fond of the thought of it. He didn't want to think about them falling out of love with each other, and he certainly didn't want to think about the idea of them divorcing. He tried his hardest to mask the disfavour, though, and shook his head.  
"I think we're going to have a huge family and a happy life together."

That was the last of it. They both stayed relatively quiet from that point onwards, in hopes that it would help to reduce the still-growing anxiety that came alongside the thought of marriage. They held each other, neither moving for the remaining thirty minutes of the journey.

By the time they went to get off the train, Seungcheol's legs felt mechanical. They almost wouldn't move on their own, and he genuinely struggled to look like a human as he made his way through the train station with his suit in one hand and Jeonghan's fingers in the other. He stroked the hand with his thumb, for his own benefit as much as his fiance's, and promptly led him in the direction of the wedding hall. The less time they were in the train station the better, in his opinion; it was crowded and uncomfortable, and that was enough to raise their stress levels that little bit more.

It was surprisingly easy to find the venue, though. They'd both been prepared for the worst search of their lives, fueled by discomfort, agitation, and a need for everything to turn out perfectly well for the sake of their sanity. A quick consultation from the map outside the station showed them that it was within a five-minute walk, if they just followed the street to the right, and so they did exactly as was instructed on the signs. There had still been a slight expectation that perhaps they would end up missing it and would end up wandering around for a few minutes until they eventually managed to figure out exactly what building they were supposed to be going into, but then it soon became apparent that the images online had done a perfect job of showing them exactly what it looked like from the front. They had expected that the images would have been of a side of the building that wouldn't be visible as they approached it, since it would make it seem as if the venue was a lot more attractive than it could have been in reality, but it seemed that they had perfectly captured the uniqueness of the public building from the front so that there was no confusion about whether soon-to-be newly-weds had found the right place or not.

As much as he was still nervous about the entire exchange, Seungcheol still felt a rush of excitement twitching through his body when it set in that they were actually going to be going ahead with the marriage. It was at that point in time that it got real. There was no denying it; that was the building that would see their first moments as a married couple, and it would forever be the place that dangled the keys to their future right in front of them. It wasn't the fanciest building in the world, but it was the building that would make their day special regardless.

At that point, Jeonghan dragged him towards the building with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever. It had apparently all set in for him too; he was suddenly happy and excited and desperate to get on with their wedding. The anxiety from their time on the train had suddenly washed away, in favour of genuinely enjoying their special day together. They were led straight to the reception desk, where they were greeted and promptly taken through to private rooms to get dressed for the ceremony. Whenever they were ready, they were to simply make their way out of the door and towards the hall.

Seungcheol got changed in record time. He knew that his fiance was going to want to get to the front of the hall as soon as possible so that they could get on with their wedding. There was no one else to wait for, so there was no real need to drag it out any longer than necessary. In fact, Seungcheol was convinced that his fiance didn't really have the patience to drag it out. Now that they were there, his eyes were on the gold and he knew that he wanted to get married still. No sugar-coating, no second guessing, no worries about whether they would honestly work well in that sort of relationship setting. Jeonghan wanted to get married right away, and Seungcheol wasn't prepared to deny him that right. As soon as his suit was on, he gave himself a single check in the mirror to ensure that he looked decent, and then made his way straight out into the hallway.

The layout of the building was a lot different to how he expected it would be laid out. For starters, it seemed as if the wedding area was specifically designed for the couple to meet for the first time as they were making their way to the front of the hall. Once they'd changed, they were in separate hallways which prevented them from meeting early. The hall had two side doors, in addition to the main double doors that the guests would go through, so that they could both enter at the same time from either side. It was a good way to go about the wedding process, especially when it came to same-sex couples. There was no pressure for either person to take on the traditionally "masculine" or "feminine" roles; they could just be two individuals who were in love and getting married without those restrictions in place from the start.

As soon as his cue came on the other side of the door - as stated on the sign that was placed on the door in front of him - Seungcheol twisted the handle and made his way inside. Suddenly, he was faced with the sight of the most beautiful room he'd seen. Despite the fact that it was supposed to be a budget place to marry, they had done an outstanding job of making it look beautiful for him and Jeonghan to say their vows. Perhaps it was in response to the fact that they hadn't invited guests, thus saving the costs of being around other people, but he appreciated it a lot regardless. The walls were decorated with detailed iron candleholders, and the ceiling was covered with a beautiful floral design. One large chandelier hung in the centre of the room, although it was left unlit in favour of maintaining the delicacy of the candles' warm glow.

The most beautiful sight, though, was Jeonghan.

Seungcheol felt his breath catching in his throat when they made eye contact across the room. He swore his heart had never beat so fast and hard in his entire life. He watched as his fiance's expression switched from surprise to admiration as they moved towards each other, and he couldn't help but smile in response. The entire arrangement was absolute perfection, as far as he was concerned. The worries about the wedding process - how it was supposed to go and what they were supposed to do and when certain things were supposed to happen - all melted away as soon as they were stood side by side in front of the person who had agreed to marry them.

As it turned out, his lack of a schema about the process was surprisingly fitting to the situation. Seungcheol found that it flew past before he'd even realised that anything had been said. All of his attention had been focused on how perfect he thought Jeonghan looked at that point in time; there was no real reason for him to pay attention to anything else. He guessed that he should have probably been listening to everything that was being said, just in case it was going to be useful information that would help them to make the wedding run smoothly, but he couldn't help himself. Every time they made eye contact, he felt his heart skipping another beat, and every smile that he caught snatched his heart and gave a firm squeeze. As much as he might have had his reservations about getting with Jeonghan simply because Chan had told him to do so, he knew that it was the only decision that had really had the power to change him completely. It had forced him to grow up and stop being a player, and it had made him realise that little things meant a lot.

In a way, it was his own butterfly effect. Sure, Chan had told him that he was supposed to meet Jeonghan on that particular day, but he was certain that it wouldn't have played out in the way it had done if he'd not caught himself laughing at the sausage joke in the supermarket. It was that sense of humour that had led them to talk again properly in the coffee shop, and it was that incident in the coffee shop that had led Seungcheol to really accept the fact that he needed to settle down with Jeonghan. Something as simple as overhearing a joke between two friends had eventually got him to the point where he didn't feel scared to marry Jeonghan. He didn't want to back out or let his previous fears of commitment come to the surface again. He was finally ready to settle down and accept the fact that he was in love. He and Jeonghan were going to raise a family together, and they were going to have a great life as a couple. Things would have probably played out differently if their son hadn't intervened but on the plus side, Seungcheol was getting a few extra years with the man who he would eventually grow old with. His son's warnings about the divorce left him conscious of the fact that he would need to be the honest, caring husband that Jeonghan had always wanted, and he was absolutely ready to step up to that mark.

"Choi Seungcheol," Jeonghan breathed as he reached forward to grab Seungcheol's hands. He broke out into another smile, this time shier than the other smiles that had erupted over the past few minutes. "I don't know what you've done to me but I'm happy that you've done it. If I could go back and tell myself that I would be marrying a guy I'd met in a supermarket after less than two years in a relationship, I would probably just give up on the spot. I don't think I'd be able to handle how stupid and childish it sounds. But you've given me a sense of belonging in a world that's sometimes weird and uncomfortable. I don't always understand you, but I think that's the case in every relationship. The happiness that I'm feeling at the moment is exclusive but unlimited. As long as you're here by my side, my happiness will be there for you to enjoy."

Every word was filled with love. It wasn't just for show; Seungcheol could see it in his fiance's - husband's - eyes. It was what love truly felt like. The wedding band was slipped onto his finger, and then the baton was passed to Seungcheol to begin to say his own vows.

"Yoon Jeonghan - how can I even begin?" Seungcheol gave a laugh. "I don't think you'll ever believe me when I say this, but I'm marrying you because our future child came to me in a dream one night and told me that I was going to fall in love with the most beautiful man in the world..."


	19. Chapter 19

"What the hell do you call this, Seungcheol?" Jeonghan tossed the photos in his direction, and then promptly crossed his arms over his chest. It was clear that he wasn't happy with something - Seungcheol didn't even need to look at the photos to know that much, but he wasn't all that fond of the idea of finding out exactly what was making his husband angry.

He checked anyway, figuring that it would only add more fuel to the fire if he _didn't_ look at it. His husband would assume that he knew he'd done something wrong, and so he wasn't prepared to risk making himself look guilty. He directed his attention to the photos in his lap and flicked through them, cringing each time a new one surfaced. They were all taken completely out of context, but he didn't really know how he was supposed to prove that to Jeonghan. His husband wasn't really the most forgiving when it came to alleged affairs; he'd been the sort of person to stop talking to friends in the past, due to their insistence that their partner meant no harm by having an affair. It was just a moment of weakness, they would say. Tough shit, Jeonghan would say in response; if they really loved them, they wouldn't even consider cheating in the first place.

And now Seungcheol was in that awkward situation. Having a son who was into computer engineering was a huge, huge mistake. The photos appeared to have been taken from the webcam of his office laptop, and some had even been taken from security footage. The first showed his secretary in just her bra and skirt in his office. It had happened, granted, but he had been allowing her to change her clothes in his office whilst he was out of the room. She had spilt his afternoon coffee down her blouse when she went to hand it over to him and needed to take it off immediately so that it didn't damage the satin, and thankfully she had another shirt available in her car. She'd handed Seungcheol her keys and asked him to fetch it whilst she tried to remove the stain in his office, and then changed into the fresh blouse as soon as he slipped it through the slight gap in the door. She was the only one in the image, but it was easy to see why his husband would assume that he was in the image.

Likewise, the second image showed her perched on the desk in front of him. She was comfortable enough with Seungcheol to sit on his furniture like that - after all, they had been colleagues for quite a few years by that point and were relatively good friends as a result - and so it was completely innocent. He had been showing her a presentation that he'd made for a meeting out of town, and she was critiquing it for her. Of course, he would usually ask staff in higher positions to give him criticism, but she had offered to check the readability and vocabulary for him. Again, completely innocent and completely taken out of context.

One image that did paint him in a particularly bad light, though, was one of her kissing him. It was taken from the webcam footage, and frankly Seungcheol couldn't help but feel rather impressed by his son's ability to get the screenshot of the exact moment that she kissed him. It had lasted for a fraction of a second before he pushed her away from him and he had promptly suggested that perhaps she should swap with one of the other secretaries in the office so that she would be taking on another manager's jobs whilst someone else took on Seungcheol's work, but she had ultimately ended up resigning after the rejection. She admitted that she'd completely misinterpreted his friendliness as a desire to have an extramarital affair, and that she had been wrong to make such an assumption without actually talking to him about it first. It was embarrassing and she was disappointed in herself to the point where she didn't think that she would be able to make eye contact with Seungcheol again.

Of course, he hadn't told Jeonghan about that incident. He didn't really feel the need to tell him about it. After all, it would just be causing unnecessary tension between them; it would be one thing if he was the person who initiated it or if he'd kissed back, but this was something that was unwanted. He'd rejected it immediately and in his mind, he thought that it would be a bad decision to bring it up with his husband and make a mountain out of a molehill. It just didn't need to be said and they didn't need the arguments that would inevitably come hand in hand with it. He thought that it was for the best, since he knew that his husband was rather sensitive about that sort of thing.

It had backfired, though. "It's not what you think it is," Seungcheol began to explain, "Whoever sent you these photos has taken it completely out of context, knowing that you'd get angry and upset over them."  
"Really? Because I'm absolutely certain that that photo shows you kissing your secretary. Are you trying to tell me that it's edited or something?" Seungcheol swallowed thickly as he tried to remain as composed as possible. He'd been preparing himself for this sort of incident since their marriage, when their youngest son had mentioned his sabotage. He hadn't really thought how he would handle the various reactions to everything he said, but he was certain that he could figure out a way to calm his husband down by remaining as composed as possible. It was easier said than done, however, and he was painfully aware of the consequences that would occur if he said something wrong. A big part of him was begging him to avoid backing down but another part was screaming that diffusing the situation was the only way to make everything better.

"Jeonghan, _she_ kissed _me_. I didn't kiss _her_. What you're not seeing from this image is that I pushed her straight away. I expected that she was going to lean in for a hug but then she kissed me. I told her that I was in a happy, loving marriage and that I wasn't looking for anyone else, and she was so embarrassed about her misinterpretation that she quit."  
"And what did she have to misinterpret? Were you flirting with her or something?" _Shit._ Seungcheol hadn't really anticipated that sort of question. He couldn't really think of any answer on the spot; he was certain that he hadn't tried to lead the secretary on or anything - hadn't flirted or touched her in a way that would make her expect that he wanted an affair. Then again, there had to be _something_ that made her think that he wanted that sort of relationship.  
"I suppose she might have a schema of boss-secretary relationships or something. Like an expectation from the media or films or something."

And then Jeonghan pushed his shoulder hard. He rarely got upset to the point where he would push Seungcheol but when he did get to that point, Seungcheol knew that his husband was on the verge of kicking off. He wasn't all that good at controlling his emotions when it got to that point, and there was no way that Seungcheol would be able to tap into his heart like this. "I'm going to stay with my parents for a few days," he hissed, completely disregarding the explanation that Seungcheol gave him. "You'd better have some better explanation ready when I come back on Monday, or I'm going to be filing for the divorce papers. I hope you know how angry I am with you right now and that if you try to contact me whilst I'm away, I'm not going to hold back the disgust I'm feeling for you right now. I need space, and you need to respect that."

That was that. There was nothing that Seungcheol could say or do to change his mind - not that he would even attempt it when Jeonghan was so clearly upset. Within five minutes, he was out of the house for the weekend. Seungcheol didn't really know what to do with himself once he was left standing numbly near to the front door. As much as Chan's project had tried to stop them from getting to this point, it was something that was obviously inevitable at some point. Of course, he didn't want to let the divorce happen this time. He couldn't stand the thought of letting his marriage flop because of a misunderstanding. The worst part was that this seemed to be more intense than Chan had described beforehand, and so he didn't really know whether it was amplified because of all of the disregarded butterfly effects that they had never thought about over the years, or whether it was just how it was supposed to play out anyway. Either way, he didn't really think that anything would have prepared him for something like that. To be accused of having an affair was one thing, but the photographic 'evidence' was taking it to a completely new level.

Seungcheol was straight over to Chan's room as soon as his husband's departure had set in properly. They didn't even need to share any sort of explanation; Chan had clearly overheard the raised voices, whilst Seungcheol didn't even need any confirmation that it was Chan's fault. Even with the changes in the future that came as a result of Chan's university work, it was clear that it was his fault. "Are you doing this because I wouldn't get you the car, or is it because I asked for your opinion on taking your mom on a holiday without you?" Seungcheol asked as they made eye contact.  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Chan replied coolly, despite very clearly understanding exactly what he was being asked.  
"Chan, if you don't tell your mom that you took the photos out of context, he's going to file for a divorce on Monday. I'm not joking around here - you need to sort this out immediately. You know it's not going to be pretty, and you also know that as soon as he files for them, he's not backing down."

"Well, that's not my problem, is it? You could've just accepted my request or tried to come up with some alternative, rather than completely shutting me down." Chan promptly turned back to his book. It was typical behaviour for him at the moment, Seungcheol mused. It was as if his moody teenage years had hit particularly late, and he wasn't exactly the sort of guy who would back down as it was without having the mood swings on top of it. The worst part, though, was that Seungcheol wasn't able to tell him about his later bid to get them back together. All he could do was tell Chan that he would regret it if they really did get divorced, and that whilst he would have bought him the car as a surprise gift for his birthday, he wasn't going to reward such poor behaviour now. It was ridiculous that he was planning on breaking up a marriage over a material possession, and he wasn't fair to the family as a whole for him to behave in that manner.

"I don't care," Chan informed him, keeping his eyes down the entire time, "Sometimes I wish he'd divorced you earlier because you clearly don't know how to be a parent." That stung a lot. Seungcheol didn't really know how to reply to it. His heart was slowly sinking down into his stomach from pure, genuine disappointment. He didn't really think that he was the best parent - after all, he'd made a lot of mistakes when it came to raising the boys - but he didn't think that he was the worst either. Perhaps he could have done something different here and there, but he did most things because it was the best option at the time, rather than being a perfectly calculated algorithm for what he thought his sons would appreciate the most. But then again, he wasn't always the best _husband_ either, so perhaps they _should_ have divorced a lot earlier than that.

"I think you're right," he confessed with a weak smile as he ran a hand through his hair. Chan's eyes suddenly shot up, as if he wasn't expecting the response at all. "I've made so many mistakes in our relationship that I think he should've divorced me years ago. Maybe even before we took you and your brothers in. We'd been married for six years by the time we adopted Jisoo, and I think that I made enough mistakes to warrant a divorce in that time. I'll be out by the time your mom gets home on Monday, okay?" Seungcheol was unusually serious about the suggestion. To start with, he had been considering saying that sort of thing to make Chan feel guilty but as the words started to flow, he found himself genuinely considering that it might be the best option. As much as he loved Jeonghan, he wasn't prepared to continue being a part of everyone's lives if he was that poor a father and husband that he couldn't do the basics right. Or maybe parts of his original timeline's thoughts were starting to trickle into his head now that he was genuinely having second thoughts about trying to avoid the divorce.

As he looked upon his son's face, he saw the pain in his eyes. It was a look of regret, as if he'd realised that his hurtful words had come from the emotion of the moment, rather than looking at the reality of the situation. "Wait," Chan said as he turned towards the door. "What did you do to warrant a divorce when you'd just married?" Seungcheol hesitated for a moment. He didn't really know whether it was appropriate to discuss that sort of thing with his son but he guessed that if he was asking about it so directly, he had the right to know.  
"Did I ever tell you why we don't talk to my parents?" he asked, and then gave a small hum when Chan shook his head. "We didn't invite them to our wedding and they took it personally. It resulted in a huge fight that kicked off at your mom's workplace when I took him some lunch one afternoon. Turns out, they followed me in there with the intention of causing a scene. He was fired from that workplace and couldn't get another job for three years, even after he graduated from medical school with the top grades. We lived on plain rice for three years because we couldn't afford more than that on one wage."

Chan looked distraught. He stared in silence with a mix of confusion and concern plastered on his face, his lower lip twitching here and there as he tried to surface the words that were on his mind. "But that's not your fault," he pointed out, and Seungcheol simply gave a laugh as he shook his head.  
"I could've found a better job so that we could eat properly. I could've taken up a second job or gambled to get a bit of extra money, or I could've stolen some food from a market for him."  
"But then you wouldn't have had any time to do anything else, or you could've ended up in debt, or you might've--"  
"Sometimes it's the payoff when you're in love with someone. We scraped together a little bit of money to get married when we could've saved it and lived comfortably. And it's my fault for suggesting that we get married."

Surprisingly, his son simply closed his textbook and shifted his position to sit properly on his bed. "Do you regret marrying him so young?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity for the first time in a long time.  
"I regret not being able to provide for him better and I regret the fact that he often went home hungry because I couldn't afford to get us proper meals. But no, I don't regret marrying him one bit." Chan visibly swallowed. It was clear that he'd very quickly come to regret everything that he'd said and done up until that point, although he didn't say it out loud. So Seungcheol merely continued. "He probably regrets marrying me, though. I'm not the easiest person to live with but he always treats he so lovingly. He deserves better than to have a husband who is essentially his twelfth child."

"Don't say that," Chan replied softly without missing a beat, before quickly catching himself and returning to his slightly stand-offish attitude. "Have you ever considered someone else? Like, has anyone been really into you and you've thought about how you would have them if you weren't married to mommy?" Seungcheol would be lying if he said that he hadn't thought about how it would feel to be married to someone else, but he made sure to point out that he'd never had the intention of making anything out of it. More often than not, his thoughts were about people who he knew he'd definitely _not_ want to marry. Annoying customers, rude strangers, the individuals whose partners looked embarrassed to be seen out in public with them. He didn't know how he would be able to handle that sort of situation if he was in it, and he certainly didn't know how their actual partners handled being out in public with them. That made Chan crack a smile, although he tried to hide it by scratching his nose.

"How long have you and mommy been together in total, by the way?"  
"Thirty-five years."  
"And you still love him as much as you did when you first fell for him?"  
"I love him more than that now. I was scared when I first started to develop feelings for him but now, I'm proud to tell everyone that we're married." Seungcheol couldn't help but break into a dumb smile. The memory of their first kiss flooded back to him; it was one that he frequently replayed in his mind, but this time it was a reminder of how stupid he was when he was younger. "He still gets flustered when I kiss him in public, you know. Even though people sort of expect affection between older couples."

It was a moment of reflection for Seungcheol. He couldn't help but smile fondly as he pointed out that his husband's clean eating habits and religious skincare regime had left him looking like he was still in his thirties, whilst he had personally gone grey and had visible signs of ageing around the corners of his eyes and mouth. But as much as he'd considered getting some work done on his appearance to make him seem more youthful again, Jeonghan had insisted that he wanted him to stay exactly how he was. "I think the signs of ageing look sexy on you," he'd said as he began to get flirtily close, pressing their chests together. His lips had moved towards Seungcheol's ear, where they'd delicately brushed against his lobe. "I've been waiting for the day where my rugged man turns into a silver fox." Of course, Seungcheol wasn't prepared to discuss the after effects of that exchange with his son, but the thought of the flirting left his heart aching with a desire to be close to his husband again.

They spent a moment in silence, just staring at each other as their minds played on thoughts of Jeonghan. "I'll call him and tell him that I took the photos out of context," Chan finally said as he searched around for his phone. "I'm sorry that I caused a scene over something so stupid and I'm sorry that I said that you're a useless parent. I don't expect forgiveness, nor do I expect the car anymore, okay? I just think it would be unfair to push you both until you divorce when I think that I was blowing everything out of proportion." Seungcheol was promptly banished from the room so that his son could make the call.

For a while, he didn't really know what to do with himself. Nothing really felt right; after all, he didn't want to be busy if Jeonghan _did_ end up coming home, in case it set off the arguments again. Then again, there was still the chance that his husband would be stubborn and wouldn't come home until Monday. Seungcheol wasn't prepared to risk it. He took a seat on the sofa and waited in silence, not even caring that it would take at least an hour for his husband to get home if he'd just arrived at his parents' house. Even that was given that he was prepared to leave right away, which Seungcheol hardly expected. He couldn't just turn around and leave their house so soon after he'd arrived, especially when he likely had a lot to tell them about the argument that they'd had.

It took around four hours, but Jeonghan finally arrived home that evening. It was around seven o'clock and he was unusually quiet when he made his way into the house, but then as soon as he saw Seungcheol on the sofa waiting for him, he completely froze. It wasn't nervous clamming but rather, surprise that he was waiting there in the dark with no form of entertainment to keep him occupied. It was as if he'd not moved whilst Jeonghan had been gone.

Once they made eye contact, Seungcheol slowly lifted himself off the sofa. He took a few wary steps forward, trying his hardest to monitor Jeonghan's reaction as he did so. The last thing he wanted to do was distress him any more than he'd already done leading up to that point, and he wasn't all too fond of the idea of making him angry either. Each step was trodden with precision, taking him mere inches closer each time until they were close enough to touch if both men reached an arm out at the same time. For the moment, they waited there in silence. Neither really needed words to say how they felt. Seungcheol felt awful about the entire situation between them, whilst Jeonghan was still hurt. That much was clear from his face; his eyes were puffy and red, as if he'd spent the journey home crying, and his nose was pink on the tip from the friction of his tissue against delicate skin. He always was an ugly crier, with the evidence of his emotions staining his skin for hours after he'd finished crying.

"Jeonghan," Seungcheol breathed as he dared to move slightly closer. He tried not to focus his attention on the glassy glint in his husband's eyes, instead choosing to focus on the gap between them so that he wouldn't end up getting too upset over the image in front of him. "You can't even begin to understand how sorry I am for not mentioning what she did to you before. I've been thinking it over and I've decided that it would have been better for you to know because at least then, you would know that I'm genuine when I say that I didn't want this to happen." He moved to kiss Jeonghan's lips, although his husband didn't even attempt to kiss him back. "I love you," he breathed before backing off to give his husband the opportunity to get everything off his chest in his own way.

"I didn't intend on coming back tonight," he pointed out indignantly. "I only came back because Chan asked me to. He said he heard you crying over me." It was a lie, but Seungcheol was relieved that his son had painted a picture of him being emotional over the argument, rather than emotionally numb. It took a lot to make Seungcheol cry, and so his son knew that it would pull on his mother's heartstrings if he thought that his husband was that upset about his departure.  
"I couldn't stand the thought of being apart from you. The last time you stayed with your parents during an argument was--"  
"Eight years ago, when we lost _him._ I know. I cried over him today, too."

They met in another embrace as Jeonghan let a few tears fall again. Although he didn't do so much as shake from the sobs, Seungcheol could hear the stuttering of his husband's breath as he buried his face in the side of his neck. "I don't know whether I cried more about him or us this time." Jeonghan's voice was muffled by the damp skin of Seungcheol's neck, where his tears had started to leave evidence of his hurting. It was his way of getting through things, Seungcheol noted; he often carried all of the emotions from a number of different events and let them all out at the same time, only amplifying his hurting in the process.

Seungcheol made sure to be as gentle as possible as he ran a hand through Jeonghan's hair. He stayed quiet for a few minutes, waiting until he could hear his husband's breathing relax again, and then promptly got back to the primary topic at hand. "I understand how I made you feel today and I think that you're absolutely right to feel upset, hurt, betrayed, angry, and every other emotion in between. It's hard for me to admit this, but I know that I'm in the wrong because I should've told you way before anyone else had the opportunity to use it against me. I think we might need some time to reflect on everything, but I'm absolutely certain that we can get through this without divorce. You're the only person in my world who I genuinely love and want to spend my life with, and no man or woman or any person in between is going to change my feelings for you."

Surprisingly, Jeonghan's sniffles didn't start again. Instead, he took a deep breath and moved backwards until they could gaze upon each other's faces again. He voiced his disappointment, but also his own understanding. Jeonghan had to admit that he did sometimes go off the handles, and so perhaps he should've asked about it before accusing him of an ongoing affair. Now that he thought about it, Seungcheol hadn't shown attraction to any girls in years - it was always something that they were open about, since they knew that they loved each other and attraction didn't innately foreshadow infidelity. Although obviously that didn't mean that he would never be attracted to a girl again, Jeonghan had to admit that statistically speaking, Seungcheol was more likely to cheat with another man of around their age than a much younger woman. It was too out-of-character for him to suddenly choose his secretary, and so Jeonghan supposed that the likelihood of him wanting to cheat with her was probably very low.

It was unusual for them to be dealing with it in such an adult way, but Seungcheol was absolutely relieved. He was glad that he'd developed skills in diffusing arguments over the years; it meant that the argument that would essentially decide their fate as a couple was much easier to handle than he'd originally anticipated.

"Could we spend the night doing something romantic?" he asked, making sure to maintain the delicacy of gentle face touches as he did so. "Obviously, it's going to take a while to get over the hurt and upset that's come about over the past few hours, but I think that spending time together as a couple will help us both to realise exactly why we love each other. Is that a good plan?" Jeonghan gave a little nod as he sniffled once more.  
"Do you have anything in mind?"  
"A romantic drama and takeout? And then maybe a bath and something intimate, like a massage?"

Jeonghan gave a hum of agreement. It definitely sounded like a good idea, as long as they weren't disturbed by the boys. Seungcheol promised that he would request the time alone, just so that they would be able to work on their marriage properly, and so he promptly made his way around the house to inform their sons of the plan before returning to the sofa. The restaurant delivery site was promptly brought up on his phone, where they both spent an exceedingly long time picking out exactly what they wanted to order.

In that moment, they were back to being their teenage selves. Fast food and dramas, romance and intimacy. There was no perfect way to end an argument, but Seungcheol figured that if anything, any solution that didn't end in divorce was the ideal solution. He loved his husband too much for that, and he couldn't even explain his appreciation for the fact that his son had warned him in advance about that particular conflict so that he could prepare himself for it in advance. The guilt of the butterfly effects and the chance of changing the future permanently had been a small price to pay in exchange for the ongoing love of a man who still looked at him like a loved-up teenager when they were alone together.

No price would be too big for Jeonghan's love, in his eyes, and he couldn't have imagined a future where his husband wasn't such an important part of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a little bit late but it's all done and it's a lot longer than most of the previous chapters!! It's a bit sad to see this fic end - as much as it was difficult to write at times, it was still one of my favourite ones to create
> 
> As much as it's sad to see another fic end, it might mean the start of another fic soon, once I have my dissertation sorted out. I'm really really behind with participants and data analysis at the moment but hopefully it won't take too long to get it sorted and then we'll be able to move onto one of the other 800 JeongCheol fics that are lined up
> 
> Thank you for staying with me through to the end <3


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